Trouble walking.
by Wouter Jaegers
Summary: Jane starts a new life. (the same story as my previous trouble walking but then with new scenes and plot changes enjoy.)


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Trouble walking 

By Wouter Jaegers [wo.jaegers@planet.nl][1]

The adventures of Jane Lane after leaving Lawndale.

Slowly Jane made her way down the stairs, careful not to wake Trent. She left him a message explaining everything, her eyes wet in tears as she thought back to all they had been through together all these years.

She remembered what he said when he went off on a state tour with Mystik Spiral.

"Janie, don't be sad about my departure, when a man feels like he's onto something then he has to go. But don't worry I'll be back."

She also remembered the irony in his voice, he knew that this wouldn't work out but he went anyway, heck why wouldn't he? After all, if you didn't try you'll never find out.

He did return, he returned as a broken and disappointed man. But he refused to give up, he wrote songs by the dozens, but all of them shared the same sad thing, they all sucked. Jane knew that Trent was aware of that too but he just refused to give up. Trent had always battled disappointment since his youth. Being a guitarplayer in the techno age was not done when he attended high school. Ms Li even used the gig he played with his first band "Emit Remmus" as an excuse to expel him from school, his whole teen hood spoiled and without a job he disbanded "Emit Remmus" to start up a serious band to prove he wasn't a lazy bum. Trent hated Ms. Li with a passion and Jane loved him for that.

Jane walked up the stairs again and looked inside Trent's room, as usual he was fast asleep. "Trent you stubborn mule…" she whispered with a sad smile. Then gave him a light peck on his lips. "If only you weren't already my brother…" she said to herself while leaving his room.

As she made her way through the front door she vaguely heard noises from the basement. "Mom is home…" she realized. Should she go down to see her? NO, that would only make her doubt her decision even more, she had to be strong. 

There was a whole world out there for her to explore, she just had to get out of her shell and go out to exploit the things she was capable of. Lawndale was just too small for her.

But…was that really true? Didn't she just fall victim to the habits of the rest of the Lane family? Jane decided that she had to be strong and swallowed her objections down as she closed the door of the house that had been her home for eighteen years, for what could be the very last time.

Jane walked past the Morgendorffer residence. "Daria…" she whispered before putting in a message in her mailbox. "Oh Daria…I hope you will be able to understand." She softly cried.

As she walked past Lawndale High, she smiled evilly, they would be in hell when they would find her "Goodbye present".

Jane made her way across town until she reached the railroad. She had planned her departure well, she knew at what time the freight train would be coming by. She ran beside it and got hold onto the handle of one of the wagons and pulled herself in. As the train made it's way westward she rolled out her sleeping bag and dozed off. Her first real steps into adulthood were taken.

The next morning she enjoyed the fresh air and the wind blowing in her face as the landscape flashed by. She could have watched to green pine forests and rocky riverbeds the train past for hours. This was so beautiful, and normally at this time she would have been sitting in Mr. DeMartino's class. Funny, but she had to admit that she would miss him. 

"Would Ms. Jane Lane come to the principal's office now?" Ms. Li's voice hollered through the halls of Lawndale high. Ms. Li was furious, how could a simple student think she would get away with staining the honor and glory of Lawndale high? 

As Daria made her way to school she noticed a big commotion at the library wall facing Ms. Li's office. She walked over and saw a spray painted likeness of Ms. Li as the American eagle with crushed and bleeding students in her left talon and a huge amount of money in her right. She recognized the style, without a doubt this was done by Jane.

Daria smirked, Jane would go to hell and high water for this but she would come out a winner in spite of that. Speaking of Jane, where was she? 

Jane was losing herself in drawing the landscape while the train steadily headed north. Her wind up radio providing music as she put the breathtaking landscapes onto paper. The feeling of freedom becoming more and more intense as she went.

Meanwhile at the Lane residence was Trent waking up from the sound of his telephone.   


"…'Llo? ...No, Jane is not around, she must be in school. …Oh this is the school. …No I haven't seen her yet. …an arrest warrant, what did she do? …Hahaha, no Ms. Li, I really don't know where she might be but she sure did give you what was coming to you. Hahahaha! …Yes I'm the same Trent Lane as that 'Zitted no-good kid' you expelled because he didn't bring Honor and glory to Lawndale high." Trent laughed as he laid down the horn.

At the other side of the line Ms. Li had nothing to laugh about. She'd been insulted and nobody would get away with insulting her.

Meanwhile in Mr. DeMartino's class was Daria getting worried, Jane was nowhere to be found. Jodie looked at Daria in sympathy, she knew that Daria and Jane had problems but she also knew about the friendship they shared that was tough enough to survive an atomic war. Jodie was envious of that friendship.

DeMartino, meanwhile, wandered around observing his prey and attacked. "KEVIN, can YOU tell me which president also was one of our NATION'S best known general in the SECOND world war?"

Kevin looked up and made an attempt at thinking. "The second world war… That had to be that German guy from Charly Chaplin's 'The great dictator'. …Anton Hinkle! That's him."

"He knows his classics." Daria suddenly heard from the chair next to her, the chair normally occupied by Jane. Daria looked around and saw Jodie sitting there. Jodie smiled a smile of sympathy to her making her intentions known. 

"Yes he has watched his share of them." Daria then added awkwardly.

The day slowly progressed, Trent decided to take a shower and went to the basement to get a clean towel. Much to his surprise he found his mother there. "Oh hi mom, when did you get home?" He asked her while getting what he came for. 

Amanda looked at her youngest son. "I arrived yesterday, I felt a disturbance in my aura and I had to find out what caused it." She clarified in her soothing voice. "Have you seen Jane today?"

Meanwhile hundreds of miles further northwards was the train slowing down.

Jane packed up her stuff and jumped off the train as it made its approach towards its boarding station. Jane looked around and when she was sure that no one could see her ran up to another train and jumped in. 

"Oy, it seems to me thot we've got a little company, Zippo" a voice with a thick Australian accent suddenly spoke. "Well it's a been long toim since I've seen a young gal around 'ere." Jane looked in the direction of the voice and saw a dusty old man with battered clothing and an old sheppard dog who looked at Jane and then turned away. "Whoy Zippo, that oin't no way to greet a lady. Hello Miss, I'm Sparky, world traveler by desoign and this 'ere is my best friend Zippo."

Jane shook the man's hand and introduced herself. She then told him about her being an artist and showed him her drawings. Sparky showed great interest in Jane's drawings. "I have to admit young lady, you have some talent, but whoy did ya leave home?" 

Jane sighed and began. "Well it all started when I found out that my boyfriend Tom…"

"…admitted that he felt more for Daria than for me. Tom and I broke up soon afterwards, I don't hold a grudge against either of them but it still hurts me, this whole town hurts me, I need to get myself together again and I will do that by starting over. It's just something I have to do." Trent and his mother read out loud when they found the message that Jane left.

"…Daria, I know this will hit you the hardest, please don't think that I'm doing this because of you. This is nobody's fault but my own, and by turning away for some time I will punish myself for it. I have to face my demons, you of all people must understand that better than anybody else." Daria read with shaking hands as she franticly tried to fight back the tears, 

Helen saw her daughter's antics and spoke up. "Daria, what's wrong?" Daria ran up to her mother and cried.

"The time has come, to say fast fare, to pay the rent, to pay our share. The time has come, a fact's a fact, it belongs to them, we've got to give it back. How can we dance when our earth is turning, how can we sleep when the beds are burning?" Jane and Sparky sang while Sparky played his battered guitar. 

"Yea'll tell ya, this landscape looks nothin' loik the good ol' Australian outback, I had a woif and home back there." Sparky said while Jane drew a portrait of him. 

"Well, why did you leave that behind you if you miss it so much?" Jane asked him, Sparky sighed. 

"I wouldn't have left it behoind if it were not for a very good reason. My woif Allison and me were married for almost forty years when she was diagnosed with cancer, she died soon afterwards. Just loik you I became a restless spirit. I've been travelling this pile of dirt ever since."

"Oh I'm sorry." Jane apologized, that Sparky suddenly revealed himself to be more than just a bum. 

"This is da real loif I'll tell 'ya, I shipped in on all koinds of ships to get to my destinations. I've seen it all, the red water and the rotten smell as I shipped in on a whoiler just to get in Japan, yeah'll tell ya, seeing such a magnificent beast die in front of your eyes oin't no fun. But whot koind of loif did you have?" Sparky asked.

Jane got out her copy of the Yearbook and decided to show him what it was like. "This is my school, or better yet, my prison." She began "This is our warden, Ms. Angela Li. She could have tutored Adolf Hitler in cruelty." 

Sparky laughed "Oh a foisty one, ain't she?" Jane smiled. 

"Feisty indeed and according to this boy I was 'feisty' too." As she pointed at Upchuck's picture. 

"H'mm, y'r school needs a propah cleaning, it has all koinds of weird bugs running 'round." Sparky said while scratching his beard. "Whot the… Holy smoke, I see a familiar face." Sparky suddenly spoke. "Y'r history teacher, do ye have a close up from his face?" Jane looked surprised 

"Uh, sure." 

She flashed through the pages until she found the pictures of the faculty members, meanwhile Sparky searched though one of his bags. "It's gotta be 'round 'ere somewhere… Ah there it is. Now show me thot picture of him agoin." Sparky looked at the picture of Mr. DeMartino and smiled. "I don't believe it, it's really him. I alwoys wondered whot has become of him and 'ere he is, good old Pop-eye." Jane burst out in laughter. 

"Mr. DeMartino, 'Pop-eye'? He would have commit a crime if you called him that right in his face." Jane laughed "But seriously, how did you meet him?" Sparky showed her the picture. It showed him and Mr. DeMartino both in military uniforms standing in front of a helicopter. 

"Pop-eye and me were both Vietnam soldiers, Pop-eye was known for his ferocious outbursts of rage and his tendency to make his left eye bulge really far out of it's socket." 

"That's still the case right now" Jane added 

"Good ol' Pop-eye, he was alwoys dependable in battle. We all had nicknames and I still use mine, my real name is John Sparks but Sparky just sounds better."

"Who's thot gal standin' next to you?" He suddenly asked pointing at Daria. Jane sighed and told him about Daria, about how much she cared for her. Jane cried herself to sleep on Sparky's shoulder while the evening set. 

The night slowly progressed as Daria tried to sleep. After a few hours she was so fed up with trying that she just turned on the radio. "Maybe some dull music helps me drift away…" but it didn't, the Lawndale radio station played the record that would be the last one she wanted to hear.

"I couldn't sleep at all last night, I just kept thinking 'bout you. Baby things weren't right, 'cause I was tossing and turning, turning and tossing. Tossing and turning, tossing and turning all night." Peter Criss' sandpaper voice sang. 

Daria turned the radio off and sat down, her tiredness replaced by anger. She was angry about the departure of her only true friend. "This is nobody's fault but my own." She repeated Jane's words out of the letter she left behind. "If it's got to be this way, then I have to make the best of it." Daria growled while walking to her computer and turning it on. "Now what site did Jodie talk about again?"

"Ah here it is." Daria smiled while logging on to a bank site and headed for the financial loan department. "Jodie will not believe me when I tell her about this."

That morning at school Jodie looked with eyes filled with disbelieve at Daria.

"Did you really do that?" Jodie asked Daria in total surprise. 

"Yes, I figured that if I'll be mad for the rest of the time because of Jane's departure then I might as well turn it to good use. And I liked your idea about a start up firm for minorities." 

Jodie shone "So this will make us partners?" 

"Yes, I'll be your right hand in this." Daria smiled while shaking Jodie's hand.

"Now let's get started, the sooner we can get things together, the better the results." Jodie said enthusiastic. "Millenium project enterprises is getting born at this moment." Daria smiled.

Meanwhile at the train was the weather getting colder and colder. "I take it that this is Alaska?" Jane asked. 

"No, we're in good ol' Canada right now, it will take at least four more days before we arroive in Alaska. We are close to Calgary to be presicely." Sparky replied. Jane looked in her bag searching for something. 

"Ah crap…Sparky, can we stop at the nearest town? It seems that I forgot to take tampons with me and I'm close to my period." Sparky looked worried 

"Of course we can but we have to be careful, in remote towns like this they don't really loik strangers." 

They hopped out when the train boarded the station and made their way into a little town just outside of Calgary city. Alphaville the name board read. People watched them walking by and some of them closed the shades as they walked by. "Whot did I tell ye, them people loik to see ye go rather than see ye come." Sparky said with not just a little fear in his voice. 

"Seeing is believing." Jane firmly stated as they entered the local drug store. 

Jane walked up to the counter. "Good day Ms. What can I do for you?" The woman behind the counter asked. 

"Well, I would like to know if you have…" Jane started but was abruptly cut off by a teenage girl pushing her away 

"Two bottles of aspirin please." Jane fell down and looked up to the girl who smiled mockingly at her. 

"Excuse me, but I was here first." Jane said while standing up again. 

"Oh really? Well, I'm the mayor's daughter." The girl retorted 

"Can be but you still have to wait inline for your turn."

"Me having to wait for my turn? HA!" The girl laughed "And besides, Yankees are second place in here, you are in Canada, remember?" 

Jane started to fume "And what do you have against us 'Yankees'?" The girl looked triumphant 

"Oh, nothing but they don't belong here." 

"Fine, then let me buy my tampons, so me and Sparky can get out of here." Jane said fuming.

"Okay, take your time…" the girl said with a sing-song voice while walking out. "What a snotty little bitch." Jane growled while paying for her tampons. 

The woman behind the counter looked worried "Yes, she is. But you'd better be careful, that was Tabitha Johnson, the mayor's daughter and she greatly abuses that fact. It's thanks to her and her friends that foreign people are rarely seen in our town, you'd better get moving quick. She doesn't like people who talk back at her." 

It was then that they heard a dog yelping in panic. "Zippo!" Sparky shouted while storming out.

"Come on doggy, let auntie Tabitha put you out of your misery." Tabitha said in a sing-song voice while taping Zippos' feet to each other with duct tape and taking out a big stiletto knife. 

"NO STOY OFF ZIPPO!" Sparky shouted while making his way to her. "Whoy are ye doing this, Zippo hasn't done anything wrong?" 

Tabitha laughed "This is getting better with every minute, at first I thought that I was to put a Yankee dog out of it's misery but he turned out to be an Aussie dog instead. Say goodbye to him." Tabitha laughed while raising her knife to stab Zippo. "This will teach you to stay away from here!"

With amazing speed Jane ran up and kicked Tabitha's knife from her hand and stomped her in her face. Tabitha felt something break and lost consciousness. "Come on Sparky, let's go I don't want to stay another second in this hell hole." Jane growled while taking Zippo from Tabitha's hands and walking away. 

Tabitha came around and saw Jane and Sparky walking away. She tried to speak up "Brrwwwaaaaah!" was all she could blurt out before reaching for her jaw in agony. 

"Did I break your jaw? Sorry about that but that at least will keep your big mouth shut for a while." Jane said calmly while making her way with Sparky and Zippo to the station again. 

When liberated from the tape, Zippo jumped in Jane's arms and licked her face in gratitude. "Whoy, it seems to me thot Zippo is grateful for you saving his loif." Sparky laughed. 

"He ought to be." Jane said while cuddling Zippo.

Meanwhile in town was Tabitha being transported away to the local hospital, a lot of teenagers watched her being carried away. "Who did this to her?" a boy asked a local man. 

"She was beaten by an American girl after she tried to stab her dog."

"Beaten by an American girl, who does that Yankee bitch think she is?" one girl shouted. 

"Let's get her." Another boy shouted. 

"NO!" a voice suddenly called out. Everyone looked around and saw the mayor standing there. "I forbid you to go after them, Tabitha got what she deserved. I've seen her going from bad to worse, insulting strangers, letting the air escape from their car tires and now she was about to kill a pet from people who were only trying to buy things. It's time she learned that she can't get away with it all the time. Everybody return to your work and let's get on with it." He soberly stated.

"Who does the mayor think who he is?" one boy said to three others. "Come on André, Bernard, Ernest, we will go after her."

"You are right Adam, it's about the principle. Foreign people, and especially Yanks, aren't welcome here." Ernest replied

"I say that we have to take care of them, and besides I haven't had any pussy in months." Bernard smiled while rubbing his hands in anticipation. 

"And since the legal age in America is eighteen, there is a big chance of her still being a virgin." Adam smiled before the boys walked up to their car and started to follow the trail Jane and Sparky went.

"It's a deal." Helen said while signing the form Jodie and Daria presented to her. 

Michelle Landon smiled in satisfaction. "Champagne, we have to toast to this." 

Daria looked at Jodie and smiled, sure she wasn't as close to her as Jane is but Daria would dare to say that she was second best, far from it. Daria sighed as she came to the realisation that Jane and Jodie were equally matched in their friendships with her but both at different departments.

Quinn walked up to Jodie. "Jodie, could you explain what this company that you and Daria are starting is all about?" she asked with genuine curiosity in her voice. 

"Well basically it's to help people with a bad history or with a lack of education to get a job, there are far too many people who are unemployed but who are able to work." Jodie explained. 

Daria chimed in "After Jodie and I graduate from Lawndale high we shall attend Oxford university to gain experience in running a business like that. We also have to learn about the legal system and how to get the proper insurance for our employees. Luckily Mom can tutor me in that department." 

"Well are you ready to do that?" Jodie asked. 

"You betcha!" Daria answered while giving Jodie a high-five.

"Are you ready to do this?" Adam Moreaux asked his companions while they closed in on Jane and Sparky 

"You betcha!" they replied while giving each other high-fives. 

The boy who was driving pushed his foot down the excellerator and they rushed towards Jane and Sparky with breath taking speed, Zippo looked around and barked to warn Both Sparky and Jane. But it was too late, Sparky was dashed away by the impact of the car and fell down motionless. The boys got out and moved up to Jane.

"Well, well it seems that our jaw breaker is alone this time. I guess that Tabitha didn't use the proper method of bringing the point across, or did she?" Adam spoke while walking up to her. 

"Not really, since there was no point in attacking Zippo in the first place." Jane sneered back at him, she then looked over her shoulder and saw Zippo licking Sparky's face in an attempt to wake him. Sensing that Jane had lost her attention the boys made their move and seized her. Two of them grabbed her arms while a third twisted her neck.

"Ah, although we hate Yankees we have to give them credit for giving birth to some really hot girls." Adam spoke. "Let's see what you have underneath that shirt of yours." He smiled in a sinister way while lifting up Jane's shirt and squeezing her breasts. 

"Oh god no…" Jane whimpered when she felt him unclasping her bra.

"YOU STOY OFF OF HER!" a voice suddenly shouted. The leader let go of Jane and turned around only to get hit in the head with a guitar, rendering it to splinters. Sparky then kicked him in the groin. "NOT ONLY DO I HOIT RACISTIC PEOPLE BUT I HOIT RAPE EVEN MORE!" he shouted while kicking one of the boys who were holding Jane in the face. Zippo attacked the other two boys rendering them to retreat.

"Are you alroight?" Sparky asked Jane while helping her up 

"Fine, I just need to catch my breath." Jane replied while putting her bra back into place. 

"Stoy behoind me, I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of them yet." Sparky said while he and Jane made their way into the woods. 

"Are all people like this?" Jane asked while looking back at the boys. 

"No, but in remote towns loik that one the people are livin' a very boring loife, the youth are suffering under that and grow violent." 

Sparky looked around "I've been 'ere before and I know these woods, there has to be a hotel around 'ere, the keeper is a friend of moine. He alwoys lets me stoy for free." 

Jane sighed in relieve "Good after being touched indecently I feel the need to take a bath and sleep for a while." 

Two hours past, the boys had continued their search in vain. "Damn, it's getting dark, we have to get back." The leader sighed. 

"But she hasn't seen the last of us yet, tomorrow we'll bring our shotguns with us." Another boy stated while walking back to their car and driving back to their town.

Meanwhile was Jane enjoying a relaxing hot bath with the housekeeper's wife washing her hair. "Man, this feels so good." Jane whispered while a single tear rolled down her face.

"Stay calm, you have to give yourself rest. Escaping a rape is a very big deal for your body." The older woman spoke in a mellow voice.

Jane sobbed. That voice, it resembled her mother's voice. "Go ahead and cry if you feel the need to, it's not right to crop your emotions up inside." The woman spoke while hugging Jane. 

"This is so familiar, yet so strange." Jane remarked "My mother never did this to me but I still miss her warm and affectionate persona right now." 

Back at the village, the boys were preparing their moves, they had everything set and done, and they decided to get some sleep and setting out stroke of six in the morning.

At the hotel was Jane fast asleep, being on the road for nearly a week had drained her completely and sleeping in a warm soft bed sure was better than trying to sleep in a noisy and shaking train wagon. Downstairs were Sparky and the housekeeper talking.

"Well Jack I'll tell ye' thot girl sure has a heart of gold, she risked being stabbed while saving Zippo's loife." Sparky told him with not just a little admiration in his voice. 

"And she knows 'Pop-eye' doesn't she?" Jack asked. 

"Yeah, he was her history teacher in school. I recognized him when she showed me the yearbook." Mindy, the housekeeper's wife walked over. 

"She's fast asleep. This all has made quite an impression on her."

"Kevin, you'd better GET out of my FACE before I get you into DE-TEN-TION!" Jane imitated Mr. Demartino at breakfast the next morning. 

"That's Pop-eye, no doubt about it." Jack laughed, "Who would have thought that he would turn out to be a teacher." 

"Yeah'll tell ye' moit, I would really loik to meat him agoin." Sparky added. "Well we'd better get going. Jane and I have a long trip ahead of us, thanks for everything moit."

"Take care of yourselves." Mindy shouted after them when Jane and Sparky made their way towards the railroad again. 

"We will and thanks once again!" Jane shouted back.

But every move they made was carefully watched through a pair of binoculars. "Splendid, now we can make our move."

Jane and Sparky walked towards the railroad, they passed a rocky mountain way with a large river flowing below. But suddenly a ver familiar feeling overcame Sparky. "Oy, nature calls, woit 'ere for me." Jane smiled 

"Don't worry, come on Zippo let's put all of this on paper." She said while Sparky made his way into the bushes.

Click-Clack… BANG! 

Jane rushed over to the spot when she heard Sparky's outcry. The scene made her freeze in fear, there he was, a big spot of blood on his chest and barely alive. Zippo rushed over to his fallen master and licked his face.

Sparky opened his eyes. "Zippo, ye'old devil… …we've been through a lot…didn't we moit? …Jane… ye're a good and strong girl…there's a package in my backpack…give that to Anthony… …and take care of Zippo…" He managed to say while his life flowed away from him. "I… …I…can see me mum and dad… …the… …almighty… …JC…"

Jane closed Sparky's eyes as he died, Jane's upper lip began to tremble and she broke down. Zippo began to howl as both of them grieved over the loss of their friend.

"My condolences." A voice suddenly spoke. Jane looked up and saw the four boys standing there with shotguns. Jane gritted her teeth

"Murderers…" The boys aimed their guns at her. 

"Eh-ah, little girl. Know your place. And besides we have some unfinished business to take care off." Adam spoke up while pulling out a stiletto knife.

"NO I'D RATHER DIE!" Jane howled while standing up and making an escape. 

"Ernest, don't let her get away!" the leader shouted. Mignot aimed his gun and shot.

Jane felt a sharp pain in her shoulder after she heard the shot, fear, pain and the will to survive took over as she ran to the river's edge and dove in. Embracing the darkness as she felt herself floating away.

"That ought to do it." Mignot spoke solemnly. "There's no way she could have survived that fall."

"Too bad, now we never know how good she would have been." Laverdure grumbled.

"Uhm guys, I guess we'd better scram before any mounties pull up." André Tanguy spoke while looking around nervously.

"Tonnerre André, you are a real wussy!" Adam replied while slapping him on the shoulder. "But you are right, we'd better get going, just to celebrate this."

"What about the dog?" Laverdure asked while pointing his gun at Zippo. "Shall I shoot it?"

"No, just leave it alone, it wouldn't do anything." Adam laughed. 

"Where am I?"

"Is there somebody out there?"

"I need help"

"Okay, Lane stay calm, let's get yourself together."

"I'm in pain, why am I in pain?"

"Let's open my eyes so I can see where I am."

"All this white light, what's going on?"

"Why am I naked, who has taken my clothes?"

"Hello?"

"She's still alive." 

"She's in luck but she's in a bad shape." Two voices from outside suddenly spoke. Jane looked up but couldn't find the source of the voices. She called out to the voices.

"Hello, can you hear me, I need help!"

"Hello, base this is patrol Nr. 14, we need an ambulance here quick. We have a female around eighteen or nineteen years old with gunshot wounds in coma." The voice spoke up again.

"Gunshot wounds?"

Suddenly Jane's surroundings changed, the white void made place for a place in a pine forest near a big river.

"What am I doing here? Oh wait I remember, I was here with someone, a foreign man. An Australian, what was his name again?"

"Johnathan Sparks, 'Sparky' for friends."

Jane looked around and saw Sparky standing there. 

"Yes, I was there with you. But then something happened but what did happen?"

"I am sorry to say thot I doid here, remember them boys who tried to rape you before? They shot me."

The surrounding changed once more, this time Jane found herself at the drugstore. Tabitha stood and laughed mockingly at her.

"May I ask why you are laughing?"

"You just don't remember do you? You broke my jaw because I was about to stab your Aussie buddy's dog. I just got even with you."

"A dog… Oh yeah Zippo."

"Some friends of mine decided to get back on you and take revenge on what you did to me. They chased you down and were about to rape you when your Aussie buddy and his miserable excuse for a dog chased them away."

"I remember that but how did I get here in the first place?"

The surroundings changed once more, Jane found herself back in her old room. Daria sat on the bed and looked up. 

"You decided to flee from Lawndale after you broke up with Tom. You hopped on a freight train where you met Sparky and you both would up in Canada."

Sparky and Tabitha walked in.

"Them boys from the village we visited shot me dead and shot you too. That's why you're here in the foist place"

"Are you saying that I died?"

"No, y're in a serious coma."

"Jane, we are not real, this is your inner world."

"Enough, I don't want to anymore of this, I want to return!"

"She's coming around." Jane suddenly heard a voice say, she looked around and saw that Tabitha, Daria and Sparky had vanished. She suddenly felt something on her face, she looked down and saw that it was an oxygen mask. Suddenly she felt her right shoulder getting very heavy, when checking it revealed to be heavily bandaged. Jane slowly began to feel that she was laying in a bed and that's when the surrounding made its final change.

"Where am I?" Jane asked when opening her eyes, her voice sounding tired and raspy. She tried to focus but her eyes wouldn't cooperate. 

A female hand took hers and a soft and gentle voice spoke up. 

"You are at the ICU in Calgary hospital, You were in comatose for nearly a week." Jane looked up and saw Mindy and Jack, Sparky's friends.

"How did you find me?" Jane asked.

"A couple of mounties came by to check the forest for poachers, they found you lying in the river two miles from our hotel." Mindy explained "you were in a really bad shape." 

Jane suddenly remembered something really serious. "Oh god no… Sparky…they shot him…" she blurted out before starting to cry hysterically.

Mindy and Jack nodded sadly, they already knew about Sparky's death. Zippo stayed with his master all the time. The boys had ignored Zippo and left him for stray. Jane cried on, for the loss of her friend and for the loss of the easy life, why didn't she stay home? Jane wanted to go back, back to her old life, back to her room and be at home again but little did she know that that would become impossible.

Trent looked in total shock at the flyer on the front door as he returned from shopping. The house, HIS house, had been taken by the tax due to unpaid mortgage bills. "All the inhabitants are supposed to leave the house in two days." It read. Trent began to tremble in desperation, what the hell was he supposed to do? 

"Okay Lane." Trent said while calming himself "this is really it, what are your options?" Trent opened the basement door and walked into Amanda's workshop only to see her packing, it was obvious that she was preparing another journey.

"Ah Trent, perfect timing I was just about to leave. My plane to San Francisco is due in half an hour." She remarked, flashing her ticket. 

"And the confiscation of our house is due in two days." Trent added sounding dead serious. Amanda looked up.

"Huh, how can that be? We paid the mortgage on time didn't we, I always keep money apart so we can pay it." And then she remembered something terrifying "Oh no, I used most of it to finance this trip to San Francisco and Vince used some to visit Canada."

Trent rolled his eyes. "What is it with this family and travel?" he groaned "Anyway, we'll be kicked out and our house re-sold if we don't cough up the money quick."

"Listen I wish I could help you but my friends in San Francisco are counting that I will be there at the Monterey Pop festival reunion. So I really have to go." Amanda said while walking out. "But don't worry, you will make it through." She added before leaving the house and driving away.

Trent reached out and grabbed one of the pots standing around him. "Oh…WHAT THE HELL DOES IT TAKE TO SHOW YOU HOW SERIOUS THIS IS MOM!?" he screamed while tossing it and letting it shatter. "What am I supposed to do?" 

"WHERE IS JANE LANE?" Ms. Li's voice hollered through the teachers' lounge. "She had to attend some classes didn't she?" She asked the faculty who were all gathered.

"To be honest with you Ms. Li, no, I haven't seen her for more than a week now." Mr. O'Neill replied "But why didn't you try to call her parents? They of all people should know about her whereabouts." 

Ms Li groaned "Each time I do I get that no good brother of her' on the phone. It makes me wonder if she even has parents." 

Ms. DeFoe raised her head "You mean Trent Lane, he was one of my most gifted students, he never could find himself in visual arts but he found songs by just looking at the still-lives." She sighed "The Lanes have always been a very artistic family, Amanda with her pottery, Vincent with his photography, Trent with his poetry and Jane with her paintings."

"Maybe to you." Ms. Morris grumbled "But the two Lane girls who attended my class, or should I say were supposed to attend my class, never put in any effort." 

"Hah, and that's their good right, with you only teaching cheerleading. I can understand why both Penny and Jane didn't want to get all sweaty for a bunch of male football players." Ms. Barch snorted.

"PEOPLE, stay calm please. We are getting away from our original point of discussion." Ms. Li called the faculty members back to order. "The most important thing is that we can punish Ms. Lane for vandalism."

After the meeting had ended, Ms. Defoe approached Ms. Barch and Mr. O'Neill. "Janet, Timothy, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, Claire go ahead." Mr. O'Neill answered.

"Why was Trent Lane expelled, I never really understood that. He was a good student and attended all classes as he was supposed to." She began.

"Come to think of it, I don't know too." Mr. O'Neill added. "As you said before, he was an excellent poet and he and some friends formed a band playing songs with fruitful lyrics. They named themselves "Emit Remmus" which is "Summer Time" spelled backwards. They had rehearsals in the auditorium and were to play at the 1991 school prom."

"I remember seeing them doing their final rehearsal." Ms. Barch chimed in "I must admit that they were decent, for a bunch of male teenagers, their songs were beautiful and melodic."

"But what happened at that prom? Trent was expelled just after the prom had been." Mr. O'Neill wondered out loud "I remember something about the football team starting a riot."

"Yes, the Quarterback at the time, Tommy Sherman, complained that the party didn't 'kick as much ass as it could have.' And then they raided the stage." Ms. Barch hissed.

"After he was expelled I saw Trent dropping Jane off at school frequently. He had changed, I guess because of backlash of the experience. His songs suddenly lacked all the freshness they had before and he went totally into the opposite direction with his next band, poetry and melody being replaced by dark rhymes that lack any depth and wild loud noise to accompany them." Mr. O'Neill sighed.

"I'm going to him to find out what really happened." Ms. DeFoe then stated, it will also give us some certainties about where Jane might be." 

Meanwhile at the Lawndale library the same question was asked.

"I just wish that I knew where Jane was." Daria sighed "Life without her isn't the same."

"I understand, she is your best friend after all." Jodie said in understanding "I never had true friends, they were only interested in me because of my popularity. The only true person who I can see as a friend is also my lover."

This revelation made Daria look up surprised. "Do you mean that you and Mack…" she started but stopped her sentence midway, hanging her head in shame. "I'm sorry, I never should have asked." 

"Don't worry, I don't feel offended by it. Because of the very few hours I have for myself I had developed a burning desire and Mack… You know, had it in for me and after I turned 18 a few weeks back I decided to give myself to him." Jodie giggled. "Yes, even though my parents are forcing me to stretch our relationship to the bursting point, Mack and I had the night of our lives." Jodie sighed. "My dad would kill me if he knew."

"Don't worry Jodie, my lips are sealed." Daria smiled. 

"I guess this is the place." Mr. O'Neill spoke while pulling in at the Lane driveway.

"It must be. I recognize Jane's style in the sculpture." Ms. Defoe confirmed. "But it looks like there's nobody home."

Meanwhile a couple of hundreds of miles away, was Jane still sobbing in her hospital bed. Why did she leave home, why did Sparky die, why was she shot at? All those questions spinning around in her head. Jane couldn't get herself to focus, her head being too blurry from both fever and the painkilling drugs. But suddenly a slap in her face cleared it all up again.

"Wakey, wakey, Yankee bitch." A soft spoken but vicious sounding voice said.

Jane opened her eyes and saw Tabitha standing next to her bed. Tabitha had her head taped in and looked at Jane with eyes of fire. "You are not the most lucky girl in the world are you?" Tabitha slowly spoke. "Where is your Aussie boyfriend now?"

"Dead." Jane replied, her voice laying as much hatred as she possibly could into that one word. "I don't get you and your friends, what is wrong for me to get supplies for my journey?" She hissed.

Tabitha laughed. "You ought to know, we can watch a lot of USA channels and they all have it in for us Canadians. MTV has an advertisement with a guy ranting what he would do if he had one million bucks, and his list includes buy cruise missiles to blow up Canada. And there are still militiant groups who are stating that Canada should be part of the USA."

"So because of those idiots I get shot and left to die in a river only because I wanted to buy tampons?" Jane hissed "Get a life. You will wind up in jail because of things like this, weather or not you're the mayor's daughter." 

"Ha, that's where you are wrong being a mayors daughter has always kept me clean." Tabitha sneered "Know your place Yankee, I'm in control here." Tabitha grabbed the cord from Jane's respirator and pulled it out of the contact. Almost immediately Jane began to choke because of lack of oxygen.

Tabitha suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around, it was the mayor. " Tabitha no!" He then slapped her, causing Tabitha to reach for her jaw in agony again and dropping the cord. The mayor picked it up and plugged it in again. Jane's breathing became steady again. The mayor looked at his daughter in anger. 

"Oh no, what did you do?" Tabitha asked her father while a stream of blood was making its way down from her mouth.

"I prevented you from doing something very stupid, young lady." He growled. "I haven't got the slightest idea where this hatred towards foreigners comes from but this is going too far. I'm bringing you in."

"No, you can't do this!" Tabitha mumbled, her voice getting weaker by the minute. "Byou zhust ghan't…"

"It seems to me like I just have done it." The mayor grumbled before turning his attention to Jane. "Are you okay Ms. Lane?"

"Let's see, your daughter's friends killed my travelling partner, they also shot me and left me for dead, I was in a coma and as soon as I wake up, your daughter is trying to kill me. So other then that I guess I'm okay." Jane's voice rasped.

"I came here to tell you that one of the boys who chased you had turned himself in, he confessed everything and told us the names of the others. They have all been arrested." The mayor spoke while two nurses took Tabitha away. "We have tried to call your family in Lawndale but nobody answered the phone."

"I have no family, I walk alone." Jane sighed.

Meanwhile back in Lawndale, things weren't any better for the one Lane family member still there. 

Trent was riding in his car loaded full of Lane items and furniture to pawnshops at Degastreet hoping to sell enough to keep himself supplied with a roof. He even sacrificed his own guitars, Jesse would loan his' to him at gigs so it wasn't really a problem. Trent made his first stop at the "Wooden Mill" a pawnshop owned by a Dutch immigrant with a name nobody could pronounce. At least that Dutchman made it easy on everyone by letting them call him Paul.

Paul was just tuning up a guitar when Trent came in. "Ah Trent, Goedenmorgen, Good morning what can I do for you?"

"I hope you will be able to buy some of the stuff I have here with me." Trent began "That's a nice guitar you got there." 

"Yeah, it's a 1965 Gibson J180, the same guitar The Beatles used to use, hang on to it while I take a look at your stuff." Paul handed Trent the guitar while walking out of the shop to check what Trent had with him.

Trent strummed a chord, the guitar sang. Trent strummed again and then something on the wall grabbed his attention. It was an old LP record from Simon and Garfunkel. 

Suddenly Trent was back in 1981, he remembered his mother playing their records over and over again, she was four months pregnant, Jane would be born soon. Penny was still living at home, she was in her early teens and she made it no secret that she hated Lawndale, she hated the USA, ten short years later she left. Trent himself was four years old, he remembered everything but one thing stood out, those Simon and Garfunkel songs. Trent strummed a chord again and began to sing.

__

"I am just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told. I have squandered my resistance for a pocket full of mumbles. Such are promises. All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." 

That song, "The Boxer", it told his story. Trent had to swallow. This was frightening, he went from listening to it to living it.

__

"Asking only workman's wages I come looking for a job. But I get no offers, just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue. I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome I took some comfort there. H'mm-mm-mmm…"

"That's a good rendition you played there." A voice spoke up, snapping Trent's trance. Paul stood in the doorway with a slight smile. "This is much better than what you normally play with your band."

"My mother used to play those records when I was a kid, I'm not ashamed to admit that I loved all of it." Trent sighed, normally he would tell nobody about his true musical roots but what the heck, after losing his house, he had nothing else to loose anymore. 

"Anyway, what's going on at your place? You brought almost the entire house with you." Paul observed. Trent grinned sadly.

"Let me tell you about it…" he then began.

Meanwhile at the Morgendorffer residence were Daria and Jodie at the computer looking for missing person sites, knowing that they could search for Jane. Daria sighed.

"What kind of a friend am I, I should go out there myself to look for her." She grumbled.

"Look, you are doing the best you can right now. Those people have the methods and the material to search at a much better rate than you could ever do yourself. Getting them to do the search is the best you can do I'm sure that when they find her she'll be grateful for you doing this for her." Jodie replied. All she could do is comfort Daria as a true friend.

"I guess you're right. Wait a minute… Let's go to Trent, he might have a clue about where she might be." Daria then spoke up.

Meanwhile at the "Wooden Mill" had Trent finished his story.

"Ow, that's what we in Holland call 'Pech hebben', bad luck." Paul spoke up "Look I can't buy all of the stuff you have with you but I do have a temporary solution for you. I can take you in as an employee and you can sell that stuff yourself, I'll pay you your hours and you can keep the money of the stuff coming from your place when it gets sold." Paul reassured Trent.

"That's cool Paul, thanks but this still leaves me without a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in." Trent sighed.

"You can stay in the old caravan behind the store, nobody wanted to buy it." Paul said while standing up and showing Trent the way. "But you have to keep in mind that this is only temporary, as soon as you have earned yourself enough money to rent an apartment, you have to go."

"I understand Paul, Thanks a lot. I have to go and retrieve a few more things from my house. The IRS will take it tomorrow." Trent smiled sadly while shaking Paul's hand.

When Daria and Jodie arrived at the Lane residence a few hours later they were surprised to see Trent packing. 

"Oh hey Jodie, Daria." Trent greeted them.

"Trent, what's going on?" Daria asked with utter denial in her voice to what she feared was going on.

"The IRS took the house, Mom and Dad went on yet another travel using the money meant to pay the mortgage with, so I'm moving out." Trent explained. "I know that you came to ask me if I know about the whereabouts of Janie but I can't help you now. I will be staying at the pawnshop "The Wooden Mill" for a while."

"Is there anything we can do for you?" Daria asked Trent before he got into his car.

"Yeah, see that box over there, keep it somewhere safe." Trent said while pointing at large cardboard box. "Don't open it, not until Janie returns." He continued while starting his car and driving off.

Daria and Jodie looked at each other and shrugged before lifting the box and loading it into the Morgendoffer SUV.

"What would that be?" Jodie wondered out loud. 

"Whatever it is, it must belong to Jane. Trent really loves her and he would never sell any of her stuff without her permission." Daria proclaimed while getting behind the wheel and starting the car. "He doesn't care that much of his other family members though, they are never home, so who would notice."

Meanwhile back in Canada was Jane being visited by Jack and Mindy. 

"Are you guys serious about this?" Jane asked in pleasant surprise.

"Absolutely serious, Jane." Jack replied "We will provide you with shelter for as long as you like, Your body must rest and the winter will be coming soon."

"I don't know how to thank you." Jane blubbered

"Don't mention it." Mindy reassured her. "The winters can get really harsh and you are in no condition to travel. Besides, Zippo wants you around too."

"Guys, you are the best. But can I ask you one more favor?" Jane began. "Send me an e-mail to this adress, I will write a message later."

"The Wooden Mill" Jodie, and Daria were helping Trent with getting the caravan livable. Most of Trent's stuff was all ready cramped in. Trent had set up his bed and a petrol heater made the winter cold bearable. 

"It will take me awhile to get used to this." Trent said with a sad tone in his voice. "I sure hope Janie will do better than I do."

"At least Paul would let you keep your own bed, so you will have at least one thing that reminds you of home." Daria said trying to comfort him.

Jodie looked at Daria and Trent this was true friendship. 

Trent looked at Jodie and Daria "Thanks for being there for me, if I had the courage then I would… Oh what the hell." Trent got up and gave both girls a big kiss.

After dropping Jodie at her place Daria went home. When she walked in, the fashion club came up to her. 

"So like Daria, Quinn told us that you and Jodie were starting, like a business that helps unpopular people to, like get a job or something. And we wanted you to know that we support you with that idea, or something." Sandi began.

Daria looked at Quinn, "A consulting firm for 'unpopular people'? " she thought but then she realized that none of the fashion club members would understand the meaning of the word "minority" so Quinn had to use a word they would understand.

"Thanks Sandi, but would you mind telling me why you support me this?" Daria asked, curious about the motives they had. 

"Well if you can get, like unpopular people a job, they will earn money and then they can buy clothes that are fashionable and stuff." Was Sandi's reply, Daria rolled her eyes, she should have known…

When she arrived at her room Daria turned on her PC hoping to get a reply from the missing persons bureau, what she got however was much better.

An E-mail coming from an unknown sender lay in her mail box, Daria could almost jump for joy when she opened it.

__________________________________________________________________________

Hello partner in crime.

I hope you are going steady even without me. I just mailed to let you know that I'm alright. Tell Trent that I miss him very much. I'm sorry that I can't tell you where I am but don't worry, I will be back before you know it.

See you later, partner in crime. JANE

__________________________________________________________________________

Daria's eyes began to tear up, Jane was okay, she still didn't know where to find her but for the moment, it didn't matter. Jane was okay.

Daria looked outside and saw the first snowflakes fall, she thought of Trent, having to sleep in a caravan, he would be so cold. But this message from Jane would certainly warm him up again. 

And six months went by. Daria began to map all the letters Jane send her and while it was reassuring that Jane was alright, it didn't change much in her situation. Jane just wouldn't say where she was. The occasional picture showed no clues or giveaways, while Daria was glad that Jane thought of her it also pained her that she wasn't allowed to respond. 

As Jane walked around the hotel that was her home for nearly six months now, she wondered what the future had in store for her. She had seen and been through so much since she left Lawndale, her shoulder had healed quite nicely and apart from a scar there was no evidence from her gunshot wound anymore.

The last couple of months she felt healthier than ever before, chopping firewood and taking long hikes certainly paid off well. She still mailed Daria every now and then but didn't say where she was. She had to overcome one more obstacle before revealing it. Jane loved working at the hotel, small as it was. Jack and Mindy had been there for her all along and she was very thankful. But as happy as she was, she felt that irresistible urge, she didn't know how much longer it would take but she had to go. 

Jane sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't recognize herself. All those months and adventures had changed her. Her hair had grown quite a bit, it reached her shoulders, Jane had thought about cutting it short again but decided not to do it.

"Jane, is something bugging you?" Mindy's soothing voice spoke up. Jane turned around and faced the older woman.

"I was thinking about home, the people I left behind, my brother Trent. I've been wondering if leaving them all behind was the right decision. And all this stuff that happened to me since leaving home has made deep impact on me." Jane began. "I see an unfamiliar face whenever I look in the mirror."

"I can understand, you are not the girl you was when you left home. But wasn't it your motivation for leaving home that you could find yourself again?" Mindy clarified "Give yourself sometime to get to know this woman you have become, she just might turn out to be the person you always wanted to be." 

Jane wasn't the only person with Identity problems, more than three hundred miles more southwards was yet another girl struggling to get forward. Daria sat in her room and sighed, the last six months were the most difficult time in her life. She broke up with Tom but they figured to give it another try. 

Tom sat next to Daria and looked at her, he didn't recognize the girl he fell in love with anymore, curious about this he spoke up. "Daria, be honest with me, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, the last six months you made a U-turn in behavior, you started working with Jodie on this minorities start up bureau, you are actually starting to spend time with your sister and you even began to wear clothes less plain than you used to. Normally it would take sheer hell to make you do that." Tom stated "Besides, you are seriously neglecting Jane, I never see you with her anymore."

Daria gulped, she never told Tom about Jane's departure, afraid to hurt his feelings. Tom was right, she wasn't herself.

"Tom, Jane is gone, she ran away from home after the day the two of you broke up. All those character changes you see within me are because of that." Daria clarified.

"But why didn't you tell me?" He then said "Jane was my girlfriend and she still is one of the coolest people I know."

"I was afraid of hurting you when telling you this, my whole life is rocked by all what has happened" Daria's voice suddenly grew cold "I began to understand why she left, meeting your parents showed me why the two of you broke up. I felt like all those boys that Quinn used to date. You used me as a sort of trophy to get on their good side. Why Tom, why are you doing this?"

Tom was taken aback by the coldness that suddenly came from her voice. "What do you think causes me to ride in that kamikaze device I own?" Tom sighed "My mother and father always saw me as a mishap, a nobody. They send me to that academy so that I could at least get some class but it was to no avail. I figured that dating an artist would make them respect me more. But when they searched Jane's background they even resented me more. Meeting you was the best what could happen to me but believe me it's not just because of the social status your parents have, I do care for you." 

But Daria was not finished, she still needed to clarify one more thing. "And if Jane really is 'one of the coolest people' you know than why didn't you visit her? The two of you parted as friends after all."

"I tried but at first I was too afraid to see her again, to hurt her feelings with just me being there. And when I finally had enough courage to talk with her again, she wasn't home." Tom spoke sadly.

"Yeah, the IRS has taken the Lane house, Trent is living in an old caravan right now. It's a wonder how he has survived the winter." Daria sighed "If I had told you about this earlier what would you have done?"

"I would have done whatever was in my power to help him, Trent is like a brother to me. I might have resented his inability to hold on to a job and his lack of class but when I got to know him a little better, I found out that he's just a great guy." Tom stopped for a minute. "I could arrange him a place to stay, before my father made the big figures he had an apartment downtown. He still owns it, I could let Trent stay in there, that's the least that I can do for him. And besides if my dad finds out about this he can't ignore me any longer"

"That's nice of you but it won't change a thing, we are growing apart Tom, this isn't working." Daria sighed. "You take me to places I don't want to go and make me do things I don't feel like doing. If you really want to prove yourself to your parents then you have to look for another way."

Tom looked at her sadly, she was right this whole situation really wasn't doing justice to Daria. He came up to her and hugged her.

"You are right Daria, tell you what, we will both take a break from each other. I understand that you need some rest. Let me know when you are felling better about it." Daria nodded "Come on, let's go and visit Trent, it will take our minds off of things." He then spoke soberly.

When they both walked down the stairs they bumped into Jake.

"Hey Tom my man, tell your dad that I'd meet him for a game of golf in Leevile." Jake called out and added "Daria, you are lucky for having such a great boyfriend." Before walking upstairs.

Daria looked at Tom "Why do you want to prove yourself to your parents anyway, being at their bad side at least will have them leaving you alone."

Tom smirked at her as they both walked out of the door and drove away in Tom's Pinto.

CHOP!

A piece of lumber spliced in two when Jane let the axe drop on it. She loved living in the woods, nice and quiet. She had been painting a lot recently and found it refreshing to destroy things for a good purpose. Suddenly a man appeared behind her and spoke up with a very familiar sounding voice.

"Excuse me young lady but is this hotel open?"

Jane turned around and looked in amazement at the person standing there. "Dad, is that you?" She asked in total surprise.

Vincent's amazement was even bigger, he never thought he would find a family member this far from home and certainly not his youngest daughter. "Janey?" He asked almost frozen. "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing what you are doing here." Jane replied witty before embracing her father.

Finally a familiar face.

Later that night, Vincent learned about the things that happened. He smiled grimly.

"It seems to me that you have fallen into the Lane family habits Janey. Travelling, it must be in our genes." He sighed with a smile "But can Trent cope up with paying the mortgage money, last time we had quite some fuss with the IRS."

"Well my journey didn't cost me anything, so the money you and mom kept aside must be still there." Jane clarified

Suddenly Vincent started to look very guilty. "Oh no…" he then quickly dialed the Lane household number on his cell phone, hoping that his fears wouldn't be justified. 

"Sack Taylor speaking." The voice at the other end replied.

Vincent began to sweat. "Err… good evening sir, I was looking for Mr. Trent Lane." He began "Is he there at the moment?"

"No I'm sorry, you must search the family that lived here before we moved in, they had to leave the house some six months ago." The voice at the other end replied "I can't tell you about their whereabouts right now, I'm sorry."

"I understand, thank you." Vincent sighed in despair before hanging up. Jane looked at her father and began to understand what was going on. "Janey, they took the house."

"What, but how can that be, you and mom left money to pay the mortgage with didn't you?" Jane stopped and thought it over and then she began to realize what really had happened. "You used it to finance this trip didn't you? Damn it dad, what about Trent?"

"Travelling, it's a disease Jane, it's a disease." Vincent muttered unhappy. "Ever since I ran away from home I couldn't stop doing it, I had to see it all with my own eyes." 

Meanwhile at the pawnshop "The Wooden Mill" was Trent making the best he could of the situation. He just had heard from Daria and Tom that they had found him an apartment so he soon would be leaving that rat infested caravan that had been his home for six months now.

Paul walked up to him. 

"I just heard from Morgan that you'll be leaving anytime soon. That little friend of yours found you an apartment."

"Yeah, Daria has been there for me all along, I simply can't thank her enough for what she did." Trent sighed. "I will continue working here though, I like it to see so much good stuff coming in and being sold."

"That's good to hear, you have been a very good employee for the last couple of months, Morgan, Lauren and I would like to take you out to dinner tonight to celebrate this." Paul explained.

Trent smiled "Sounds good." A free meal would have been a welcome bonus. "Just tell me when and where and I'll be there. Hey, that sounds good, I have to use this in a song."

Trent took a sheet of paper and began jotting it down. Paul Smiled "Hold your horses Trent Morgan and I first have to decide which restaurant we're going to. Tell you what, take that friend of yours with you she has done more than enough to deserve to be there."

"Okay then, I'll call her about this." Trent said while writing.

Meanwhile at the Griffin residence was the fashion club just rounding up another meeting. The minority start up program was high on the list. 

"And the conclusion of this report on where those unpopular people, or whatever, should get jobs. Is stating that it would be best for them if Quinn's cousin, or something and Jodie would train them to become waiters and waitresses at places like Chez Piere. That way they'll be supplied with good looking clothes and be taught our morals and values at the same time or whatever. This way they will lose their unpopularity." Sandi spoke up. 

"Yoooouuuur cousin certainlllyyyyy has redeeeeeemed herself Quuuuuiiiiiiinn." Tiffany slugged.

"Yeah" Stacy chimed in "who would have thought that a girl as unpopular like her would do something so right?" Stacy sighed "I guess that underneath that wrong outfit of her lies a very popular girl."

Quinn looked uneasy, why would she lie to them any longer, the past couple of months she and Daria had become very close. The camp where Daria spend the summer gave Quinn a preview of what it would be without Daria in the house, it was strange but she had to admit to herself that it was empty without her around. And then there was David, oh how much she had cried over the love she felt for him that wasn't mutual. Daria was there to cast an ear.

"Hum-hum, Kuh-win, are you listening?" Sandi's voice called out. Breaking Quinn's trance. "We are going to Chez Piere tonight as well as other good expensive restaurants to take notes on which kinds of unpopular people ought to work at which particular restaurants, or whatever." Then she became suspicious "Were you thinking about that David-guy again?"

Quinn remained quiet, this was none of her business.

"Like get yourself together Quinn, he wasn't even cute." Sandi sneered while throwing her hair over her shoulders. "Come on Quinn, let's go before al this think work you're doing turns you into a brain."

Quinn decided to keep her strings for a little while longer and stood up to follow the other members to their cars for this ridiculous search they were going to do. "Okay Sandi, I hear and I obey." She quietly said to herself.

Meanwhile at the Morgendorffer residence was Daria preparing for the dinner. Okay eating with Trent wasn't entirely new for her. She'd stayed at the Lane residence a couple of times and had eaten with him at the pizza place. That was a sad day, now that she thought of it, she had a crush on him until then. He wasn't capable to hold on to commitments and still… Daria sat down, she got more confident around him, she wasn't that shy around him anymore. 

Her relationship with Tom was troublesome but she at least had learned some things from it. Daria smiled slightly as a naughty thought came up in her mind. Getting naked with him, she felt herself getting weak and a feeling in her underbelly reared its head.

"Stop it" She said to herself "You are not in the position to even try something like that." She then heard Trent's car stop. "But still…nah." She got up and got downstairs to meet up with him.

Meanwhile at one of the restaurants they were to investigate was Quinn looking bored at her fellow fashion club members, in these last couple of months Quinn did a lot of thinking. Why would she want to continue with this charade anyway?

She thought of David and about the prospect of meeting guys like him, finally settling and being happy with a guy on her side, that was what she really wanted.

"Kuh-winn, are you like, listening to what I've said?"

Quinn looked up startled, Sandi caught her off guard again. "Oh, err… I'm sorry Sandi, I wasn't paying attention, could you repeat it?" Quinn asked in her nicest voice.

"You're behaving strange Quinn, I guess that that geeky cousin of yours is getting through to you. Like, you aren't even paying attention to something so important as this mission, or something." Sandi sneered.

"So sue me." Quinn spoke beneath her breath, being able to think for herself and to actually be good at school opened her eyes. Quinn looked nonchalant as she came up with her answer. "Sure you're right, Daria and I are spending much more time together, it's because of her that I spend time searching for colleges to attend after graduation. In my opinion it's important to plan on what to do after leaving school"

"Youuu meeeeaaaaan thaaaat schooool eeends?" Tiffany looked stricken, this wasn't something she thought of before.

"I hope you realize how seriously you are putting your position in the fashion club in jeopardy Quinn. I shall let this brainy behavior slide but keep in mind that I won't be as generous next time." Sandi firmly stated "Come on, we finished our job here, let's go to the next restaurant, we have five more to check out."

Quinn looked bored as she stood up and followed the herd out. 

"Here we go again."

Meanwhile in Canada was Vincent looking sadly at his daughter. Jane was in a fury, packing everything she thought was necessary and saying her goodbye to Jack and Mindy before stepping out and walking away with Zippo on her side. 

"What kind of a father are you, to leave your family to become homeless and to abandon your wife so often?" Jane's vicious words rang in his head. Was that really true, was he that bad as a father?

Vincent thought back to the day he first saw Jane, she was almost two years old. She was born when he was attending an expedition in Antarctica. What was Jane like as a kid? Vincent asked himself, he vaguely remembered coming home and seeing her around with paintbrushes putting all she had in her on paper. 

Vincent reached in his jacket and pulled out a picture he took of the place which used to be the Lane residence. The sculpture, he didn't even witness Jane working on it. He was in Hawaii at the time photographing volcanoes. Jane was right, what kind of a father was he when he wasn't even there when she was born? 

Vincent looked at Jack and Mindy and thought back at what Jane told him about her stay and how good the elderly couple took care of her for the last six months. He then decided to do something, this couldn't go on like this, Jane meant very much to him.

Jane walked straight to the railway station, tears stinging her eyes. "This isn't fair Zippo, I lost everything." She growled while taking Zippo up and jumped aboard a freight train which slowly made up speed. "But they won't get me this easy, Jane Lane is coming world." Jane sighed. 

Zippo looked at his mistress and licked her face in order to cheer her up. Jane rolled out her sleeping bag and soon drifted away in a deep slumber while the train kept going north.

Meanwhile at "Steaks incorporated" in Lawndale was Daria enjoying the dinner with Trent and Paul's family. 

She liked their daughter Lauren, who resembled her mother Morgan at a stunning level. Lauren was really energetic about reading and Daria was happy to share her knowledge on the matter. Paul laughed and told her that Lauren was hard to remove from the books department of his store. Lauren added that she loved the smell of old books and even though she at six years old couldn't possibly understand what they were about, was mystified about all those words, some of which she never had heard off before. 

Trent and Paul were talking about music that changed their lives, Paul raved about how Eric Clapton would squeeze a tone from a string and Trent added how in tune Stevie Ray Vaughan was. Daria enjoyed every minute of it. This night certainly was a night to remember.

When the dinner was over Daria came with Trent to his hide out.

"Boy, I'll be glad when I'm moving out." Trent spoke soberly while opening the door. "Living here for six months was sheer hell."

"Yeah so I can imagine." Daria sighed. "Trent be honest with me, do you think I've changed much?"

"What do you mean?" Trent asked cocking an eyebrow "You are still the Daria I know for almost three years. The only thing I can think of is that you are a lot more comfortable around me."

Daria sighed "My life is a mess Trent, Jane's boyfriend cheats on her with me, Jane leaves to I don't know where and I've been throwing myself into work just to escape the pain this all causes."

Trent walked up to her and laid his hand on her shoulder. "I see, the stress of this all is getting to you. Daria, I am very thankful for all that you and Jodie did for me, if there's anything I can do just tell me."

Daria laid her hand on Trent's and turned around "Well, there is something you can do…"

Meanwhile were the fashion club checking out another restaurant. Quinn was fed up with it, she couldn't even bring herself to fake enthusiasm. Finally she snapped.

"Sandi, what's the use about this anyway, do you honestly think that the people who are getting jobs thanks to the project of Jodie and Daria will actually choose to work as waiters and waitresses?" Quinn asked with a little venom in her voice, Sandi noticed it and retorted.

"What's the matter Quinn, are you saying that this project we were doing was useless?" Sandi bit "You haven't put in any effort at all this night and now you tell me that this project is a waste of time?"

"Then let me rephrase: If you were to choose a job, what would it be? Stop, don't reply, I know the answer. You would have chosen to be a supermodel." Quinn started "The minority people can choose their own jobs, maybe some of them will choose to be a waiter or waitress but you can't force them to become that just because of the outfits they are going to wear."

"Oh, then how on earth do they think they can loose their unpopularity? There is no place for outcasts as long as I'm president of the fashion club." Sandi suddenly began to smile evilly. "But if you insist at being a brain Quinn then I'll be happy to bring you home so you can hang out with that insane cousin of yours while me, Tiffany and Stacy will decide on your future." 

"Fine, I quit. I won't give you the satisfaction of throwing me out. And for the record, Daria is my sister." Quinn sneered while walking towards Sandi's car and getting in. "Well what are you waiting for, you wanted to take me home didn't you?"

Sandi growled and winked Stacy and Tiffany to follow her. "Fine but know that this is the last thing you will be doing as vice president of this club." She got behind the wheel and drove off.

But the rage boiling up in her made her push the accelerator a bit too hard. 

At the caravan was Daria looking at Trent while she was clothing herself again, was this really worth it? Trent was her first crush, the first person that made her feel like a woman, and now she had given herself to him.

But the sex itself wasn't really enjoyable, Trent's way of kissing was cold. To him she was probably like a groupie. Daria wiped the tears of her face. This confirmed what she had feared all those months back. Trent wasn't interested in her other as a friend. This one nightstand had proved that for her.

Tom could be an asshole at times but making out with him felt so much different than what she and Trent had done just half an hour ago. 

"Trent, I want to thank you for showing me your friendship." Daria smiled sadly while rummaging through his rough hair. "Thank you also for showing me that this isn't the way to escape the pain."

Just a few miles away was Sandi's car picking up speed a little too fast but Sandi didn't pay any attention to it. Her attention went to the person sitting next to her. "You lied to me, you tell me that popular people can't make unpopular people to wear proper clothing, you fall in love with a geek and you talk back at me…" She growled while looking at Quinn who looked impassive at Sandi's attempts to intimidate her.

"SANDI LOOK OUT!" Stacy suddenly yelled causing Sandi to look up, they were heading to a turn way too fast. It was obvious that they would never make this turn.

The car went off the road, flipped over, throwing Quinn out and landed on its side.

Moaning and crying the Fashion club members made their way to freedom, Stacy's jack turned a faint reddish black as she discovered a gash in her left upper arm. Tiffany walked out a little dazed while Sandi had a gash in her forehead.

"Quinn, are you okay?" Sandi called out while walking towards the spot where Quinn had landed dipping her wound with her own shirt. Quinn looked up breathing heavily.

"Owh… Such pain… can't move…" she managed to bring out "Call 911… Quick… Guys, where are you guys? " Quinn suddenly began to look panicked. "Don't abandon me guys, I need help. Where are you guys? I can't see you at all."

Stacy got out her cellphone and called the emergency number while Sandi and Tiffany tried to calm Quinn down. 

"We're right here Quinn, Stacy is calling for help right now." Sandi spoke to a terrified looking Quinn. Truth was that she was just as terrified, this was something that nobody should endure. 

"Quinn can't you see us, we're sitting next to you."

"Where are you guys, I can hear your voices and feel your hands touching mine but when I look you're not there. Please, don't leave me here." Quinn cried in total fear of what was happening.

Then Tiffany understood it all. "Quuuuiiinnn haaaaveee yooou beeecooome bliiiinnnd?"

The events of the last half hour were all a blur and Quinn couldn't grasp the situation as it unfolded right in front of her. There she was carried into the hospital with an infuse in her arm numbing the ever present pain which raced through her body. But the pain was not the thing that she was worried about, pain at least was reassuring her that she was still alive.

No, the real frightening aspect for her was the fact that she couldn't see what was happening. Ever since the crash, she heard people calling out to her and she felt them touching her, she smelled the odor of gasoline when the ambulance was arriving but without the image she couldn't piece the puzzle together. 

She felt that she had her eyes open, but the image just wasn't there anymore. Quinn was terrified what was happening, why wouldn't her eyes cooperate when she needed them the most.

And then finally a familiar voice spoke up.

"Quinn, oh my baby what has happened?" Helen almost yelled when she and Jake had been given clearance to go and see her. Helen came closer but suddenly stopped when she saw Quinn's eyes. "Oh god, your eyes."

Quinn turned her head towards the origin of the sound and spoke up fearfully. "Mom, Dad are you still here?" Quinn began to quiver and her broken irises began to fill with tears. "Please don't leave me, I'm so afraid of all of this, don't leave me." She squeaked in desperation.

Jake took Quinn's hand but looked away from her face, seeing the eyes from his youngest daughter like this was more than he could handle. "Don't worry sweetie, your mom and I are here for you, we won't leave you." He said, trying to sound calm.

"What has happened to me dad, I can hear you, I can feel your hand holding mine and I can even smell your after-shave but I can't get my eyes to open and give me the reassurance that you're really there." Quinn sobbed "What is happening to me?"

Jake sighed and looked to his wife, they already had heard from the doctor what had happened. The impact of the crash had severely injured her neck and damaged the part of her brain that gave her sight, in short Quinn's eyes were shut off and probably permanently, the doctors weren't sure. Jake couldn't get himself to tell Quinn.

Trent's car stopped in front of the hospital and he and Daria got out. Daria thanked god that Jodie had persuaded her to buy a cell phone, otherwise she hadn't found out about this for quite some time. As they made their way into the hospital they ran into the other fashion club members.

"Daria oh good, you're here. I…" Sandi began but couldn't continue her sentence, guilt overcoming her. Stacy walked up and finished it for her.

"Please don't get mad at her Daria, but it was because of a fight between Sandi and Quinn that caused the accident." Stacy winced as her arm made its presence known. "Sandi saw the corner too late."

Daria sighed, this was more than she needed to know. "So this is how it happened." She swallowed and turned towards Sandi. "Sandi tell me the truth. What was this fight about, you and Quinn are constantly competing but why?" Sandi didn't reply, tears made their way down her cheeks. "I see, you are happy when someone can disagree with you on some things since you usually get your way."

Daria turned away from the fashion club and continued her way to Quinn's room. "I'm so sorry…" Sandi sobbed, seeing her go.

Stacy hugged Sandi in an attempt to calm her. "It wasn't your fault Sandi, these things happen." Sandi cried on, the terrified looking empty eyes of Quinn branded in her memory. Would Quinn ever be able to forgive her?

Fairbanks Alaska. Jane walked into town when she and Zippo had arrived by train. Jane inhaled the cool polar air and sighed, happy to be in a normal city again. Her paycheck from Jack and Mindy would supply her with a hotel roof for at least a few days, so finding a job was top priority. Maybe she would stay here, the forests surrounding Fairbanks were of astonishing beauty and she wanted to put it all on paper. It would certainly take her mind off of things, since the last drawings she made were of her friends and people she left behind.

After checking in at a local Motel, Jane sat down on the bed and looked at the portraits she had drawn of the people she left behind. Jodie, Daria, Mack, Sparky, Mindy, Jack even Tom was immortalized and of course there was Trent. Jane let her head rest in her hands and sighed. How would Trent be coping with the situation he was confronted with? She reached out and got his portrait, she had drawn him as she remembered him, asleep on the couch. 

She drew a heavy sigh and closed her drawing book, time to eat. "Come on Zippo, let's find a Pizzeria. One that at least remotely resembles the one from Lawndale." Zippo stood up and followed his mistress out, the prospect of being fed sounded real good to him. "At least eating something normal again will remind me of home." Jane sighed with a smile before closing the door. "A warm bath and a nap around the clock wouldn't be so bad either."

After a walk into the shopping district Jane soon found what she was looking for. Pizza, how heavenly it would melt on her tongue. As Jane ate she felt a reassuring feeling coming over her. Some how she knew that Trent and the others would make it through. Trent probably would have found a place to stay. Probably with the Morgendorffers, the prospect of having a free meal each night, made by Jake, would have been irresistible to him.

Jane finished off her pizza and went back to the motel, not paying attention to the brown car following her. Jane undressed, took a shower and went to bed dozing off seconds after closing her eyes. She never saw the dark figure peeping through a slit between the curtains.

Meanwhile back in Lawndale.

"Daria?"

Daria sat in the lessons but she didn't really pay much attention to what was going on, first the departure of Jane and now Quinn getting into a horrible accident. It was tough enough just to keep her sanity in all of this and then they expected her to pay attention in class too?

"Daria?"

Daria scribbled something in her notebook, she then realized that she'd seen her mother do that too at some occasions.

"Ms. Morgendorffer, WOULD you be so kind to TELL me what it is THAT makes you so absent MINDED?" Mr. DeMartino sneered. Breaking Daria's momentum.

"I'm sorry Mr. D I'm just feeling bad about my sister Quinn, she had a really bad accident over the weekend and is hospitalized because of that and I can't stop worrying about her." Daria sighed. "You'll have to excuse me that I drift off sometimes."

"OH, I'm sorry, I didn't know." Mr. DeMartino said backing off a little "How bad is it?"

Daria sighed, it was better to spill the beans. "She has broken her neck and her eyes are severely damaged, it's doubtful she'll ever see again."

Jodie looked at Daria in understanding, she got to know Quinn a little better over the last couple of months and found that once you look beyond her obsession with fashion there was a highly intelligent person. "Daria, I'm sorry. If there's anything I can do just say so."

Daria smiled sadly. "Don't worry you are doing more than enough."

After the class had ended Mack and Jodie met up with Daria in the pizza place. Daria told them everything she knew about what had happened, Jodie held onto Mack's shoulder while some tears made their way from her eyes.

"Nobody should endure something like that." she sobbed holding Mack tight. "Is there really no hope of her regaining her vision?"

Daria sighed heavily "The doctors don't know for sure, they say that it would take a very risky, not to mention costly, operation. But she'll remain blind for now. It's strange I never liked her obsession with fashion and looking good and all that but now that she's without vision, I can't imagine how she can pick her life style up again. She must be very strong to get back on trail again."

Mack put his hand on her shoulder. "At least she has a loving older sister who's there for her and that's a good start." Mack then looked at Jodie who was still wet eyed holding onto his shoulder "Come on my black queen, smile, your face looks so much more beautiful when you smile. Let me take you home."

Daria looked at their departure and then got out her cell phone and dialed the number that meant the most to her. "Hello Tom?"

Two weeks had past since her arrival in Fairbanks and Jane had to admit to herself that she wasn't doing badly. She applied for several jobs and worked in a supermarket as a checkup girl earning 5 dollars per hour, she soon had earned enough to rent an apartment. Zippo had proved himself to be a decent watchdog. Not that there was much to steal, Jane only had a bed, a couch from a pawnshop, a table made of a door and two wooden crates and a TV in there.

Jane had painted the walls, the space given worked on her muse. The three rooms' apartment was soon decorated with wall and ceiling paintings. Jane caught herself being influenced by her current surroundings having painted the living room like a big lake surrounded by a forest. She initially had planned on painting it in a wild, Pollock-like manner or a gruesome Goya-like scene from Armageddon but for some reason it turned out differently.

Jane didn't mind at all, watching TV in a forest surrounding was very relaxing. Jane found the inner peace she had been looking for. But was she ready to go back to Lawndale, back to the place she left because of the pain she had, was she ready to face the past?

Jane looked at the framed pictures of the Portraits of her friends, what would they say if she just came back, would they be glad to see her or would they feel betrayed that she just left them? Jane looked at the phone, only one phone call would provide her answer, would she dare?

Jane picked up the horn, brought her fingers to the dial board but stopped and laid the horn back into the cradle. Jane walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Her hair had grown quite a lot, it now came over her shoulders, Jane was astounded to see that it made her look like a black haired version of her mother. 

"No" she said to herself "Calling Daria is much too easy, you have chosen to do this the hard way Lane." Jane then walked back to the living room and turned on the TV.

"Are the members of the English rockband the Verve working on an album played entirely on Kazoos? 'Urban humms' next on Sick sad world."

Meanwhile back in Lawndale was another girl getting used to her situation.

Although Quinn was still in disbelieve at what had happened. She eventually got used to being blind, according to the nurses there were two weeks gone by since the accident. But even without knowing if it were light or dark, she could tell if it were night or day. At night she would hear the lights being turned off and all sounds that usually accompany a hospital grew faint, making way for a blissful silence. It was strange, Quinn always assumed that blind people wouldn't know what was going on around them, the current situation proved her wrong. Two weeks already without vision and yet she was fully aware what was going on around her.

She heard the nurses' clicking heels as they walked by, she even felt the vibrations they made through the floor. Quinn was still afraid, the doctors told her that her eyes were severely damaged and that it would take a complicated operation before she could see again.

Quinn's attention suddenly was taken by the sound of the door opening, the crackling sound of cellophane indicated flowers and the smell of roses confirmed that. Quinn knew there were a lot of flowers being brought in, she could smell them standing next to her bed. Even David had send her a bouquet. The person stepped closer.

"Hi Daria." Quinn spoke up before Daria could do.

Daria was at a loss for words, she looked at Quinn in amazement. "H… How did you…?" she managed to bring out.

Quinn brought up a smile. "I recognized you from the sound your boots make as you're walking by. Thank you for the roses, I heard the wrapping plastic crackle and recognized their smell."

"Man, you really are adapting to blindness pretty quick Quinn." Daria finally spoke while sitting down. Quinn began looking sad again. "Oh I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter Daria, I understand. Not being able to see is now a part of me. Until we can pay for this operation which would restore my sight I guess I just have to live with it." Quinn sighed. "The doctor told me today that my neck is healing up quite nicely it would be two or three weeks until I can try to sit up." Quinn fell silent, she heard Daria's breathing next to her.

"Daria, can you tell me which people I got these flowers from?" Daria perked up after hearing that. 

Daria told Quinn how both of their aunts as well as both grandmothers send bouquets. Further ones came from David, from the fashion club members and from Joey, Jeffy and Jamie. But Quinn was surprised to learn about the white leather football with golden wired stitches. Quinn did recall Kevin and Brittany visiting and that since their visit there was a strong smell of leather in the room, this explained why.

"I heard them getting it on at the bathroom, I can even tell how far it went. You know Daria, even without my eyesight I'm able to see more than I did before." This comment made Daria ask the question that had been brooding on her mind.

"Quinn, tell me how do you cope with this, I mean sight is a requirement to the life you've been living. Watching fashion shows and pageants on TV and buying clothes that look good on you was what occupied most of your time. How do you think of picking up that lifestyle again after you can walk again? " Daria stopped and looked at Quinn afraid of hurting her with what she just said but instead Quinn looked thoughtful.

"To be honest with you Daria, I haven't thought of that aspect of losing my eyesight but you're right. All of this has no meaning without eyesight but what I lost is compensated to what I've gained. My hearing and touch have replaced what I used to see. I guess that I will never be the same but I will make it through." Quinn spoke soberly. "Daria, can you come closer?"

Quinn moved her hands to Daria's face and touched it, exploring it with her fingers. Daria didn't resist, she could understand what Quinn tried to do.

Quinn recognized the face of her sister, the face that she used to see so often but then she smelled an odor that wasn't Daria's "Daria, have you and Tom made up?" she then asked.

"Yeah we did, after the accident he has been so nice for me. But how did you guess?" Daria asked in total surprise causing Quinn to smile.

"Well…" Quinn began "It would be very unlikely that you would wear after-shave, wouldn't it?" Quinn smiled and let go of Daria's face. Daria was at a loss for words. "Daria, I know that you Mom and Dad are worried about me and I appreachiate that but I now realize that I will be fine, no matter if I'll be blind for the rest of my life or not."

Daria decided to keep quiet, everything she would have asked had already been answered.

Mean while at the pawnshop was Trent plucking away on a bass guitar that had just been brought in. Trent began to love his job, he would buy and sell stuff and be able to listen to all the secondhand LP's and CD's, while Paul now had the time to do the paperwork and being able to spend more time with his wife and daughter.

The other members of the spiral had noticed the change in Trent's musical directions. He suddenly made them practice to build up a swinging groove. Which resulted in audiences beginning to dance to songs that initially got no one up their feet. Nick had been practicing like a madman, listening to records from James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone and Bootsy Collins. Trent had no idea how he did it but Nick's bass playing seemed to improve with each jam session they had.

Trent was confident in this new direction, he finally had peace with what he really wanted to play. "Emmit Remmus" was the band in which he followed his heart and "Mystik Spiral" was the band in which he followed his rage. But now he could finally combine the two elements. Trent sighed, he did what his mother thought he would do. He made the best of the situation he was presented with. Although not in the way she assumed he would.

It was at that time that the phone rang, Trent put down the bass and answered it. "The Wooden mill, Trent Lane speaking, good afternoon."

"Ah Mr. Lane this is Sgt. Oldfield from the Lawndale police department speaking, we have a woman in custody who's been asking for you. Her name is Amanda Lane." The voice at the other end replied.

"My mother, why is she in custody?" Trent asked in disbelieve at what he was hearing.

"Apparently she had been caught breaking in at a house at 111 Howard Drive and was looking around in the basement. The inhabitants warned us about this and we could capture her without much of a struggle but she seemed to be very confused." The policeman explained. 

Trent rolled his eyes, she must have thought that the house at 111 Howard Drive was still the Lane home. "I'll be down in a minute. I can explain everything." Trent laid down the horn and alerted Paul to tell him he was leaving.

When arriving at the Police Station Trent put on a wry smile when he saw Amanda sitting in a cell with a look of utter confusion on her face. "Hey Mom, how was the trip to San Francisco?"

Amanda looked up. "Trent, what is going on? All those strange people in our house, I just got home last night and all of a sudden the police came and arrested me."

Trent began to look serious "Remember how you and Dad financed your trips?" he asked with a soft but vicious edge in his voice. "111 Howard Drive is no longer the Lane household, the IRS took it two days after you left."

Amanda looked furious "What, you just let them take it, didn't I tell you to make the best of the situation?"

Trent retorted "And so I did, before the IRS took the house I have been selling everything just to have money so I could find a place to sleep and to afford to buy myself some food. How can you leave me behind in such a situation thinking that I will use a magic trick or whatever to get the money to pay the mortgage with, I did the best I could do. And if you didn't like it, then go visit Dad, wherever he might be at the moment."

Trent turned around and was about to walk away when Amanda stopped him. "Trent, wait I'm sorry, I was flaky. Please tell me how you have been doing."

Trent looked at her, sighed and sat down. This would probably take a while.

Five minutes later Amanda's voice suddenly was heard through the entire station…

"YOU SOLD MY KILN?" 

Meanwhile in Fairbanks was Jane relaxing in the local grunge club. The last couple of weeks Jane had been checking out boys in clubs and found that wherever you went, people at grunge clubs looked the same, unisex style. Jane soon had her eyes on Howard Jones, lead singer for the local band "Decepticon". Obviously they had seen a lot of Transformers episodes.

Jane calmly sipped from her soda while Decepticon took the stage, Howard waved at her before strapping on his guitar and grabbing the mike.

"Hellooooo Fairbanks, are you ready to rock?" he began, the crowed cheered him on " Let's get it on then, this is an Ace Frehley song that will certainly get all you all to rock out. Let's all go TROUBLE WALKING!" He said before starting off the song. 

__

"I am trouble walking, I'm everybody's nightmare. I am trouble walking, Whooowhoowhooah

Out on the street there are lessons to be learned. If you play with fire and you'll get burned. On the newsstand, there's another book. Out on the streets you can't choose the way you look 'cause…

I am trouble walking, I'm everybody's nightmare. I am trouble walking, Whoowhoowhooah

There ain't no doubt, I got what you need so don't come begging baby please, please, please. Just pull my switch and show what you play, but know my signs because you will not escape 'cause…

I am trouble walking, I'm everybody's nightmare…."

Jane enjoyed herself again, she even let herself go out and pogo along with the rest of the crowd. She didn't pay any attention to the person observing her. Adam Moreaux didn't think he would encounter her again, he managed to escape the police who grabbed his buddies because of the murder of that Australian man and that Yankee bitch. 

He had fled to Alaska they would never search him there. Adam looked at her with eyes of fire, he and his buddies assumed that she would never survive the fall, apparently they were wrong. Damn it all, he just had started a new live and just a few weeks back she suddenly emerged again. Adam had been following her ever since, sure to get his revenge. The wait was for the perfect opportunity.

That opportunity presented itself right now, Adam knew that the performance from Decepticon would last one hour so that would give him plenty of time to break into her apartment. She brought her dog with her so nobody would notice. Adam smiled to himself as he would wait for her to return. Adam took a last look at Jane and then walked out of the club. "Dance, you bitch, it will be your last."

Jane met up with Howard after the gig had ended. They made a trip to the local snack bar and decided to spend the night at Jane's. Jane couldn't tell if Howard would be the right guy for her but for now she didn't care, they had a lot of fun together and that was what mattered.

"I take it that you enjoyed our performance." Howard laughed while walking with Jane and Zippo to the apartment. "You really pulled off a Tazmanian devil act in the moshpit tonight." 

"Oh yeah, nothing like kicking some ass while rocking out." Jane replied "When I go back to Conneticutt you'll have to come with me, I'll introduce you to my brother Trent, you will like him." Jane took out her keys and was about to open the door when she noticed something was wrong. "It's open? That can't be, I locked it thoroughly… Wait a sec…"

Howard saw it too. "Claw marks, made by a crowbar." He spoke softly while bringing out a tazer. "It seems to me that you've got a guest in here, better keep quiet. He might be still in." Howard whispered while Zippo began to growl.

Meanwhile in the living room was Adam getting nervous, what took her so long. To keep his nerve he checked his gun again. Long live sound dampers, nobody would hear the shots. "She will come… She will come…" He said to himself.

Howard gave Jane his cellphone "Call the police, I'm going in." He whispered while opening the door as silently as he could.

"Be careful." Jane whispered back while dialing 911 "Hello, can you get me the police station?"

Howard and Zippo tiptoed their way in, careful not to make a sound. Howard then saw the light at the end of the corridor. He then send Zippo back and leaned against the doorpost and peeped in. Sure enough, there was someone there, he saw a boy, 19 or 20 years old, sitting on Jane's couch smoking a cigarette and inspecting a gun. Howard moved back, he didn't want the boy to notice him. But then the floorboard creaked under his feet.

Adam looked up, did he hear something? 

Howard moved back a little, seeing that the boy had looked up. "Oh man…" he thought to himself while trying to make a silent retreat. But then he leaned on a light switch switching the light of the corridor on. "SHIT!"

Adam bolted up after seeing the light go on, in less than a second he had pulled his gun. "She's home!" it raced through his head while standing up. He then saw a shadow though the open door and smiled. He then fired, the thin walls wouldn't be able to stop the bullets.

Howard heard the click of the gun and ducked, not even a second after doing so he saw the bullets going right through the wall. Howard couldn't remember being so scared before but he remained cool. "He must have heard me fall down, let's play dead." He thought to himself.

Adam heard a thud and he saw the shadow change in shape. "I got her." Adam then walked through the doorpost and saw his victim. Damn it, it wasn't that Yankee bitch, it was the singer from the band that was playing at the club. Adam then saw the door opening.

Jane thanked god that the police station was only two blocks away from her apartment it took them less than three minutes to get there. She already told them to be quiet and that the intruder was still inside, the Police officers opened the door.

"That must be her." He gritted through his teeth while pointing the gun at the door.

Howard saw enough. "JANE LOOK OUT, HE'S ARMED!" he shouted. Before his attacker could shoot.

Adam acted in a reflex, shooting while turning around. The police officer who was opening the door was hit in his shoulder while Jane and the other officer could search for cover just in time. Adam looked at the boy he thought he just had killed in rage. "DAMN YOU, YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" He gritted while pulling the trigger.

Howard waited for the bullets but it remained silent, the gun had jammed. Seizing the opportunity Howard got hold of his tazer and waited for his chance.

"DROP YOUR WEAPON AND COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!" The other police officer shouted. While drawing his gun.

The boy turned around while changing the bullet register from his gun. Howard knew that this was his chance, he jumped up, pushed the tazer in the boys' neck and activated it.

Adam suddenly felt two metal bolts in his neck followed by an all consuming pain. He then lost consciousness.

Howard felt how his attacker fell weak and pulled the paralyzer away from his neck. "It's okay, I got him!" he then shouted at the police outside. 

Jane and the police officers walked in. Jane's eyes filled themselves with fear as she recognized the boy. "Oh my god."

Adam came around and stared right into the eyes of Jane, eyes filled with hate. "Aren't you a bit far from home?" Jane asked clenching her fists.

"Are you saying that you know this asshole?" Howard asked while cocking his eyebrow.

"He's one of the boys who tried to rape me and later tried to kill me when I was travelling in Canada." Jane growled "I thought you would be with your friends rotting away in prison."

"If Tanguy hadn't betrayed us we would have gotten away with it anyway. I could escape the mounties while my buddies were all incarcerated" Adam sneered "I had the chance to start a new life here, but noooo, you had to re-appear again and ruin it all."

"Thanks Mr. Moreaux, this will provide us enough evidence to give you back at the Canadian authorities added to the crimes you did commit on USA soil." The police officer said while pushing Adam in the patrol car and driving off. While his partner got medical attention in the ambulance that had just arrived. 

Jane and Howard walked back in and looked at the damage Adam did. "I have to say that you've been really brave Howard." Jane said in admiration.

"I was scared to death and shitting myself but yes I was really brave." Howard laughed while pointing at the bullet holes in the wall. "Sorry about your house though."

Jane laid her hands on Howard's shoulders. "Oh don't worry about that. I was planning on a renovation anyway." She said before pulling him close and kissing him.

Dear David, how are you doing?

I just want to give you an update on how I'm doing, Now that I'm blind I decided to let Pepperhill University make place for a more serious one. After some research that I did with my sister Daria and her friend Jodie, we came to the conclusion that Hergest Ridge University would be the best choice for me to take.

Strange enough didn't my school scores suffer under my handicap, quite the opposite actually, not being able to see the teachers and other students at the special high school for bad sighted people, which I'm now attending, has worked in my advantage. I lost much of my popularity but it doesn't matter anymore. I just hope that you're proud of me because of my progress.

I hope to hear from you soon. 

Love, Quinn.

Quinn's fingers flashed over the special Brail keyboard as she finished her E-mail and send it to David. Four months had past and she was doing quite nicely since the accident, she loved the fact that she was able to walk again but now she needed a guidance stick so she could make her way around. 

Quinn's attention suddenly was taken by a knock on the door. "Come in!" she called out with turning off the PC. "Hi Stacy, how are you today?"

Quinn's friendship with Stacy also had bloomed, even though they never went out shopping again, they certainly had a lot of fun studying together.

"Hi Quinn, I'm fine. We got our history tests today. I had to say 'Hi' to you from Mr. DeMartino." Stacy answered while walking in and getting out her books.

"That's nice of him, and how did you guys do?" Quinn asked while Joining Stacy at their study table.

"I got a 95, Tiffany had an 80 and Sandi had an 89, so overall we didn't do badly. How are things at your school Quinn?" Stacy asked while opening her pencil case. "Are Joey, Jeffy and Jamie still trying to get in with white walking sticks and sunglasses on?"

"Don't get me started." Quinn laughed "They brought their dogs in today trying to convince our guidance councilors that they were guidance dogs. I don't think they'll ever want to understand that I won't go steady with any of them, they're just not my type of guys but I think it's cute when they just keep on trying."

"I guess some things never change." Stacy giggled "Whenever the fashion club has meetings at Sandi's house, her brothers keep asking when you'll be coming."

"I do miss the meetings and us sitting in and watching pageants but I guess that I just have to live with it." Quinn sighed. "Shall we begin?"

Helen looked at her daughter and smiled, Quinn proved herself to be strong. She had her worries about Quinn's recovery but it was overkill since Quinn adapted to blindness pretty quick. Daria also was a great help in Quinn's recovery she had done research on a high school for blind and bad sighted people.

Helen walked over to Daria's room, Daria had done her packing, she would move out to her dorm at Lincoln University where she would study together with Jodie. Helen hated the padding and Daria's depressing taste but now that the room was almost empty she felt as if it were out of place without Daria's stuff in it. Helen walked over to the closet and opened it. Daria had left one of her outfits. The green oversized coat, orange shirt and black pleated skirt attire she used to wear so many times. Daria had abandoned it almost a year ago when Jane left. Helen could have thought that because of Jane's departure Daria had grown more civilized but that would be a lie. Daria was hiding her pain of Jane's departure that way.

Helen took the outfit and looked at it, if Jane would return, what would it do to Daria, would she return to the cynical outcast that she was? 

At the Landon home Daria and Jodie were hard at work, Jodie's room was almost stripped bare as they were removing everything it had in it. Mack, Trent and Tom were supplying their cars to drive it all away to Lincoln. Rachel looked at her sister in envy, as soon as Jodie would leave she would be seen as the successor. Would she be able to cope with the pressure?

Rachel walked over to the living room, looked through the main window and saw the three cars drive away. She had heard Tom talking to Daria about how he hated the rich life of his parents and how he despised living in a mansion. Rachel had to smile at that, here was Tom Sloane, the son of a man who had it all. And he complained about the lack of normality of his situation. Rachel sighed, he was right: life was easier before her father invented that damn folding coffee cup.

Michelle looked at her youngest daughter. "Rachel is there anything wrong?"

"What could there be wrong mom? This life we've been living since dad invented the folding coffee cup, or the fact that now that Jodie has moved out I'll be the one who's getting buried alive under everything you guys will throw at me so it will look good on my college application?" Rachel spat before turning around. "Where is the time when Jodie and I were allowed to have people over after school, where is the time when you and dad granted us to relax? You and dad keep saying that we're leading the best life an African-American family can lead but you are putting Jodie and me through almost slave labor intensive workloads."

Michelle was taken aback by the ferocity of her youngest daughter's words but quickly regained her composure. "Hey, know what you are talking about young lady. Thanks to her hard work Jodie…"

"IS FREE, MOTHER. I don't know how she could handle it for so long as she did but she has earned her freedom. Don't you see, she didn't do all she did so she could get onto the best University that this country has, but to escape, to cut her lines and wander off. I even heard her talking with Michael about a wedding." Rachel sneered.

"WHAT? OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Michelle said in upper amazement after hearing this revelation.

"Just try to stop her, she's nineteen now, you can't control her much longer." Rachel laughed mockingly before walking off, leaving her mother pondering the words she just heard.

Michelle sat down and sobbed, the situation becoming painfully clear, she had lost her oldest daughter. Rachel walked over to her mom and hugged her. "Don't worry mom, I'm sure Jodie wouldn't hold it against you."

Meanwhile in Tom's car was Daria reading the latest E-mail she got from Jane. This time she had included a picture of a boy.

Hello partner in crime.

I hope you are doing nicely, I'm sorry that I can't reveal where I am but this is something I have to do myself. I hope you and Tom are doing fine, he's a good match for you. I got over it a long time ago and now I have Howard in my life. He's a lot like Trent, save for the inability to hold on to a job. Howard and I are currently saving up for a flight to Lawndale, so don't worry, you haven't seen the last of me.

See you soon Daria. Your partner in crime, JANE

"So Jane has a new boyfriend?" Tom said eyeing the picture 

"Apparently so, she can't say enough good things about him." Daria smiled "In the e-mail where she first had mentioned him she told me about how he had saved her life when an intruder tried to kill her. I'll tell her that she's been lucky leading the exciting life."

"Yeah some girls have all the luck." Tom snickered while looking at the picture. There was Howard, a boy from about 20 years old with shoulder length black hair, a red bandana and wearing a blue denim coat. But then something caught his eye. "Wait a minute…" Tom dug out a picture from the dashboard cupboard. It showed him and Elsie when they were both a lot younger. "Well I'll be damned, Daria I think I know where Jane is. They are in…"

Fairbanks Alaska.

Jane and Howard were busy finishing up their winter stocking and prepared for six months of total darkness. 

"This will be the longest night you'll ever encounter Jane, six months without sun." Howard said when he and Jane entered Jane's apartment. "Are you ready for this?"

"Sure, living in Lawndale has been good training. I just wish Daria were here, she would love the idea, six months without sunlight." Jane laughed. "You know Howard, I think I finally have found my true home."

Howard pulled her close "That's good to hear, so are you sure you want to go back to Lawndale?" Jane nodded

"I have to face my demons Howard and besides, I want to see my friends again." Jane sighed. "At least we're now able to fly over instead of travelling by freighter. Although I have to admit that I sometimes miss it. As uncomfortable as it was, I miss the feeling of freedom and the astounding landscapes that I saw when opening up the door when waking up in the morning."

"I take it that you would even miss the 'getting away quickly before the train personal sees you' part of having to travel that way." Howard laughed while laying his hand on her leg.

Jane was tempted to shove his hand away again, the memory of the rape was still fresh. Howard noticed Jane's change in composure and quickly withdrew his hand, knowing what Jane had been through. But much to his surprise Jane took his hand and laid it on her breasts.

"Go ahead, touch them, tonight I'm yours." She whispered before kissing him.

Jane and Howard soon engaged into a sweet wrestle, throwing off their clothes and surrendering to each other's passions. Jane sighed in happiness as she felt how Howard got intimate. She had to forget the past and enjoy the present. Since this was nowhere near the brutal rape attempt she had been through all those months ago, this was love.

As the hours had past, Jane looked at Howard who was lying asleep next to her. Jane smiled as she thought back about the past few hours. About how she had surrendered to him, she had actually put her guard down, even Tom was never allowed to go that far.

Speaking of Tom, Jane turned around and got hold of the picture she took of Howard. Jane had seen a picture of Tom and Elsie that was taken at exact the same location, would Tom be able to recognize it? If so then he could tell Daria and the others where she was, they would search contact with her. A subtle hint, but a really big one at the same time.

"It's only a matter of time." Jane smiled while putting her underwear back on and walking over to the kitchen to make some coffee.

When arriving at the kitchen, Jane took a look through the window and saw the first snowflakes fall. 

"Jane?" Howard spoke while walking in. "Anything wrong?"

"Nothing, I was just about to make some coffee." Jane said continuing her work. Howard walked over to the window.

"Ah the snow, it's really that time of year." Howard smiled. "Oh that's right, we haven't asked each other THE question yet."

"And what would that question be?" Jane asked cocking her eyebrow. Howard smiled and walked over to her.

"Was it as good to you as it was to me?"

At the Zone in Lawndale were Mystik Spiral setting up their equipment, ever since their musical U-turn, their following had grown. Trent was pleasantly surprised to see his former English teacher Mr. O'Neill attending the performances. O'Neill was very nice to him and was very supportive of the new direction of the band.

Daria had spoken to Mr. O'Neill about college. O'Neill told her about how she was missed after her transfer, he was happy to see that Daria had progressed so well after graduation. But after a while the conversation shifted to the one person who had caused it.

"Fairbanks Alaska, that's where Jane is." Tom spoke soberly "This picture she send of her boyfriend was taken at the exact same place as the vacation picture of me and my sister."

"You mean she did this as a hint to tell us where she is?" O'Neill asked Tom and Daria.

"I wouldn't be surprised, Jane knew about the picture and I had told her about how beautiful Alaska was." Tom replied.

"So it's a big chance that she'd been there all along." Daria pondered "Mr. O'Neill, is Ms. Li still out to have Jane arrested?" O'Neill nodded sadly.

"I'm afraid she still is Daria, it would take a cold day in hell before she decides to let it slide." He sighed before Ms. Barch came walking over.

"Come on skinny let's dance, the band is about to start their performance." She said while hooking her arm in his. "Oh hello Daria, haven't seen you around much lately."

"Well, being at campus with Jodie studying all day will do that to you." Daria replied. "How are things at Lawndale prison?" Ms. Barch snickered.

"Let's not talk about that shall we? By the way how is your sister Quinn doing, it's been a while since the accident and the transfer." She asked while suddenly looking very sad, it was obvious to Daria that, even though she wouldn't admit it, Ms. Barch missed Quinn.

"From what I know, her studies at her current school have raised her chances to get into Hergest Ridge in about a year or two." Daria replied.

"That's nice to hear, tell her that I said hi." Ms. Barch perked before dragging Mr. O'Neill onto the dance floor.

"Give her my regards too…" Mr. O'Neill sputtered before Ms. Barch swung him around and started to dance with him in a way that resembled a fight.

Tom winced as he watched them go by while Mystik Spiral played a swirling rendition of Jimi Hendrix' "Third rock from the sun" The light effects adding a deep psychedelic flavor to the music.

"They are a cute couple." Tom said sarcastically "But I wonder who's the more feminine one."

"I guess the one who doesn't get eaten by the other after mating." Daria replied "But I hope that they will never breed." Tom shuddered.

"Neither do I, how horrible would that be?" Tom smiled before leaving off with Daria. "I wish that we could do something about Jane's position. It would be a really lousy return for her if she would be arrested when she gets back."

"The only way to prevent that from happening is to find something to blackmail Ms. Li with." Daria pondered. "But what can we use?"

"I think I might know something…" Tom suddenly spoke aloud "If Ms. Li is really so strict on getting into the limelight then there has to be something written about that in her past. You told me that she used to be a ballerina, let's search the archives to see if we can find anything about that."

"That sounds like a really good idea." Daria smirked. As they made their way to Tom's car.

Tick, tick, tick…

Quinn made her way through the halls of her new school, she had stayed a little longer to work on her essay for literature, her teacher Ms. Wormwood was very helpful with that.

"Quinn, wait up you forgot something." A voice suddenly called, Quinn knew this voice. It was one of the guidance councilors, Peter Sutherland. 

"I'm still here Pete." Quinn replied while Peter came up to her.

"Ms. Wormwood forgot to give you this grade check form, it's crucial in order for you to complete this essay you are working on. She gave it to me so I could give it to you." Peter smiled while handing her the Brail paper. Peter was dumbfounded by how stunningly beautiful Quinn was, not just in looks but even more so in her way of doing. Quinn was always there when you needed someone to talk with.

Just a few weeks ago they got in a new girl, Tori, who had suffered from a cosmetic operation which was meant to change her eye color but instead left her blind. That poor girl was devastated by that, she had no reason at all to continue. But Quinn comforted her, having experienced a similar thing. Quinn had helped Tori to get over it and accept her handicap.

"Here let me help you out." Peter said while opening the front door only to find Joey, Jeffy and Jamie caught up in a fight. Quinn groaned, although she said it was cute to have guys fight over her, it now became old, since they were so caught up in the fight that they didn't even notice her.

"Peter, can you drive me home, it seems to me that my usual entourage is too busy." Quinn asked in her ice melting voice.

"Okay, just a minute I first have to check out."

Quinn heard Peter walking off and sighed, Peter was without a doubt a very nice guy. He reminded her of David but what would he look like? When Peter came back again Quinn decided to find out.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked in total surprise as Quinn brought her hands to his face and began to explore it.

"I want to see your face Peter, I want to know what kind of face produces that nice voice of yours." Peter began to blush. "Are you shy?" Quinn giggled "I felt your face getting warm, you must be blushing." Peter had to swallow, this was embarrassing and yet it was also sweet. Peter took her hands and led them away from his face.

"Come on, let me bring you home." He said uncomfortable, the temptation was almost too much for him to resist. Quinn smiled, she still had the ability to make guys fall for her even though she now had a different weapon for accomplishing that.

In her hide out in Fairbanks was Jane losing herself in painting. This time, photo realistic renditions of her family were put on canvases. 

Amanda Lane, working on a Greek vase and decorating it in her own spaced out manner.

Vincent Lane, Sitting on a mountain peak photographing the surroundings.

Summer Lane, behind the wheel of her car with all four of her children mugging and fighting with each other.

Wind Lane, sitting at the porch of a house with suitcases standing scattered around him, in tears.

Penny Lane, walking through the Andes with her parrot sitting on her shoulder and a heavily packed mule following in her footsteps.

Trent Lane, fronting Mystik Spiral at the Zone. Playing his battered guitar through his "Ready-to-choke-up-and-die" amplifier.

And last, Jane herself. The way she used to be. Short hair, wearing her favorite red jacket, that jacket that had been cut open by the paramedics in Canada when she was transported to the hospital. Jane had painted herself in what used to be her workshop, her old room, painting while Daria sat on her bed.

Jane sighed, it was over a year ago that she left that life behind. Was she really ready to go back?

"Jane are you home?" Howard called out to her while making his way in. Zippo jumped up and barked cheerful at him. "Down Zippo, good boy." When Jane walked in she couldn't help but to smile over Howard's condition.

"How is the weather, oh almighty Yeti?" Jane snickered while Howard took off his coat and cap which were both severely covered in snow.

"Cold, dark, freezing and white." Howard replied while hanging up his coat. "My mother sends you her regards."

"That's nice of her." Jane smiled "And speaking of which, let me introduce you to my family." Jane took Howard by his hand and led him to the living room showing him the paintings.

Howard was in awe. He walked past each one of them with his mouth agape in amazement.

"These are really good, Jane. Could you tell me about them?" he finally could bring out. "Who is that last one, the one in red?" Jane sighed, this confirmed her fear that she had changed beyond recognition.

"Howard, that girl is standing next to you." She whimpered. "That is the way I used to be, an outcast, but innocent. Lawndale stands for everything I used to be. If even you don't recognize me like I used to be than what would my friends do if they don't recognize the person I am now?"

"Don't worry about that, I'm sure that they will recognize you, you might have changed a lot during your year away from them but you are still Jane Lane." Howard suddenly looked thoughtful. "That girl sitting on the bed, that's Daria, your best friend isn't it?" Jane nodded. "Okay then, call her."

"What but I…" Jane began but Howard laid his finger on her lips and handed her the horn.

"Call her, it's the best way for you to get peace between your past and present." Jane looked up at Howard and hesitatingly brought her fingers to the dial board and dialed the number.

Several hundreds of miles to the south at the Morgendorffer residence was Quinn answering the phone.

"Hello, Quinn Morgendorffer speaking."

Jane looked in amazement, it was without a doubt "Narcissa" speaking but she sounded different.

"Hello anybody there?" Quinn asked.

"Hello Quinn, this is Jane Speaking can I have Daria on?" Jane managed to bring out.

"Jane? As in Jane Lane?" Quinn asked, cheerfulness filling her voice. "Glad to hear from you after all this time, how are you?" Jane's amazement just got bigger and bigger, since when would Quinn be glad to hear from her?

"I'm doing fine Quinn, I'll tell you about it later, but first can you get me Daria please?"

"I'm sorry Jane, she doesn't live here anymore, a couple of months ago she moved away to her dorm at Lincoln University, she and Jodie are studying there. I will give her your message though."

"Do you have her number by any chance?" Jane asked fearing the answer.

"Sure, wait up." Quinn said while switching on her Brail laptop and searched through the phone numbers. "Here you are, got a pen ready to jab it down? Good, here it is." 

After jabbing the number down Jane thanked Quinn and hung up. Howard looked at her questioningly.

"Well, how did it go?" Howard asked while Jane sighed in relieve. 

"That was Daria's sister Quinn, and I don't have the slightest idea what has happened to her." Jane smiled "She had stayed for the night a few years ago and she drove me crazy with her talk about fashion and boyfriends and about adjusting her shoe soles to match her date's body length. And now, not a single word about that crap, I expected her to ask me about what I'm wearing at the moment." Jane stopped and giggled "I guess I'm not the only one who has changed a lot."

"And that number she gave you?"

"She told me that Daria didn't live at home anymore. She gave me the number of Daria's new place. According to her sister, Daria is attending Lincoln University together with our friend Jodie Landon." Jane replied while pointing at Jodie's portrait.

"Landon?" Howard began while getting out a small circular package and unfolding it so it revealed itself to be a coffee cup. "Is she related to the Landon who brought this on the market?" Jane nodded.

"She's that man's daughter. This is the first time that I see that infamous coffee cup up close, is it really that good?"

"Like hell it is, you have to replace it after only four or five times." Howard laughed while folding it back again. "I bought one for the novelty of it."

"Oh well, Mr. Landon has to keep the production up somehow. Doesn't he?" Jane said while dialing the number Quinn gave to her.

At the dorm she shared with Daria at Lincoln University was Jodie relaxing in the tub, finally she was free from her parents, finally she could stay in a warm bath all day if she felt like it. She had set the telephone next to the tub so she could answer it.

Her father had called a few times asking if she was doing her best. Jodie smiled as she repeated her answer for herself 

"Dad, you are calling at the wrong time. I'm in the middle of a lecture. Could you call back another time?" Jodie laughed out loud as she thought back at her father's reaction, he had yet to accept the fact that he no longer controlled her.

It was at that time that the phone rang. Jodie looked at the number on the screen. Good, it wasn't her father.

"Jodie Landon speaking."

"Jodie, this is Jane, how are you?" The voice at the other end replied. Jodie's eyes went wide as she recognized the voice. 

"Jane, is that really you? What a pleasant surprise, where have you been?" Jodie said cheerful while nearly dropping the phone into the water.

"Let me guess, you are enjoying your freedom." Jane laughed in response to the splashing she heard. "Can you give me Daria please, I will tell you later about what I've been through during the time I was away."

"I'm sorry, she's not here, she and Tom are at the library. They are helping you get back without being arrested for the 'portrait' you made of Ms. Li. So you're stuck with me until she returns." Jodie replied while drying herself and getting into her bathrobe. "But I'm sure Trent will also be glad to hear from you."

"Trent. How is he doing, I've been worried sick ever since I learned about the confiscation of our house." Jane said with a beating heart.

"Don't worry about him, me and Daria helped him find an apartment where he can stay and Tom paid the bills for the first week as a sort of depth he owed to him. Tom is feeling guilty about being the reason for you to leave. He has been very supportive to Daria. She has been taking this very hard. And then there was this thing with Quinn…" Jodie sighed.

"What is it with Quinn, I just spoke her. Apart from sounding a hell of a lot more mature than I remember her to be, she didn't tell me about something that happened." Jane asked getting really curious about this all, the revelations coming faster than she could handle them.

"She got involved into a car accident and….got…ind…gkrrrrrrrrr…" Was all Jane could hear before losing connection. Jodie looked angry at the phone, such a rotten moment for the battery to run out.

"Damn, I lost connection." Jane cursed while laying down the horn. "I didn't even have the chance to speak to Daria."

"Well, you did talk to some of your other friends so she will find out about you trying to contact her soon enough." Howard comforted. "And judging from how the conversations you had with both of them went, they were glad to hear from you, so I guess that there's no reason for you to think that she will react differently."

"I guess so, speaking to both Quinn and Jodie was a relieve." Jane smiled.

At the Lawndale library were Daria and Tom doing their best to assure that Jane's return wouldn't be a bad one as they were doing research on Ms. Li's past.

"Here we go Daria. 'Akina, Kiyoko, Lishahiro' was born in 1950 in Osaka Japan, moved to the USA with her parents, Seiki Lishahiro and Masako Tsuno, in 1958." Tom said while laying down Ms. Li's dossier. "Li's father had been a double spy for the Americans during the second world war and the government gave him a house as a thanks to his services."

"I found her old permanent records, apparently 'Angela' as she was re-named after the move, was a straight A student and an outstanding student in phys ed. After graduating from Lawndale High, she got to New York to study at the school for performance arts. She appeared in several ballets and appeared on Broadway." Daria said frowning at her discovery. "So far nothing outstanding. No military service, no violations, nothing like that."

"Maybe, but I guess I just found what we were looking for." Tom said while showing her a newspaper from 1969. "She went to Vietnam with her ballet group to entertain the soldiers based there. Their performance was interrupted when the NVA blew up the performance house at Saigon with a powerful time bomb, killing nearly all that were inside. She was one of the few survivors."

"I guess that explains her whole 'Get them before they get you' attitude, you would almost feel sorry for her." Daria pondered. "What else does it say?"

"According to several interviews she did after the attack she claimed that if there had been better security the bomb would have never had entered the building." Tom turned more pages. " Oh my god, she was raped at the hospital by drunk soldiers, thinking she was a Vietnamese woman." Tom swallowed "Gee whiz Daria, that woman has gone through hell several times." Daria nodded in agreement.

"Intense trauma can make people unreasonable." Daria sighed "Maybe blackmail isn't such a good idea." This made Tom look up.

"What are you thinking?"

"Now that I know what she has been through, I understand where she's coming from. In her way she actually is a lot like me." Daria hung her head and sighed. "Remember that day we had that fight and you told me that I'm afraid to get into a relation because of fear to get hurt?" Tom nodded. "When I was attending Highland high, I had two guys in my class who teased me over and over, they touched my breasts, stole my notebook, thrashed my bike and chanted 'Diarreah- cha-cha-cha' whenever they encountered me." Tom looked in amazement.

"What did you do? Did you tell your parents or the principal?"

"My parents never knew about this, Quinn took all of their attention when they were not busy working. And as for the principal, they trashed his office, drove a steam roller through the school and had him going insane, only three days before my move to Lawndale I learned that he had died of a stroke, all because of those boys."

"Why didn't you tell me about this before, I had no idea. I'm so sorry, is there anything I can do for you?" Daria looked up, her eyes wet but not yet in tears.

"Leave it alone, that's the best you can do for me now. Talking about that only opens old wounds again. But in fact, that might be the solution. If Ms. Li is still suffering under all that, then I guess that a good conversation will sprout better results than blackmail." Daria took one big sob and blew her nose. "Where were we?"

"Right." Tom began while going through the files again. "After her recovery, she gave up her ballet career and went to study to become a teacher. She graduated in 1977 and was assigned Physical Education teacher for Lawndale High in 1979."

"That leaves two years in between, what would she have done during that time? Is there anything written about her time as Phys Ed teacher?" Daria looked stricken, the pieces of the puzzle started to come together but one piece was still missing.

"Very much, she trained the cheerleaders and the hockey team during the successful seasons of 1980-1981 and 1982. Lawndale won the state championship three times in a row." Tom suddenly came upon a photo looking strangely familiar. "What the hell, Daria take a look at this..."

Daria looked and saw what Tom meant, that football team, those cheerleaders….

"Either Kevin, Brittany, and Stacy know the secret of eternal youth or they are cloned by order." Tom laughed.

"Lawndale high school Varsity football team and cheerleading squad 1979-1980." Daria read out loud. "Head cheerleader: Vivienne Welson, Brittany's mother. Quarterback: Douglas Thompson, Kevin's father. And 'Stacy' is Charlene Rowe, Kevin's mother."

"Who is that darkheaded cheerleader standing right of Brittany's mom?" Tom asked pointing at a girl with twin braids. "She looks familiar." Daria took a look and recognized the girl in question.

"She's an old enemy of mine." Daria grumbled while bringing out a 1998 edition of the Lawndale Herald. "Ms. Emily Morris, Jane's nemesis and current Phys Ed teacher at Lawndale high. Jane once signed a peace treaty with her so we wouldn't have to participate in her mandatory cheerleading practice."

"Oh yeah, she told me about that. So Morris was Li's successor as Phys Ed teacher. Let's see if I can find when that happened." Tom started searching through the files on Lawndale High's faculty members. "According to this, Ms. Li became vice principal in 1988 and was promoted to Principal when the old principal, Andrew Jackson resigned in 1990."

"I guess he couldn't take it anymore." Daria smiled grimly. "I can't blame him."

"So what shall we do now?" 

"Let's file all of this and take it with us, and then I'll arrange a meeting with Ms. Li. If she really is still suffering under this then I might get through to her." Daria sighed. "Boy, never thought it would come to the day that I would offer help to my former principal."

"Daria, you are a good person. There aren't much people like you." Tom smiled while hugging her.

"I'm glad there aren't, otherwise I'd be having too much competition."

At the pawnshop where he had been working for over a year now, was Trent making up the balance. Jodie had just called and told him that Janie would be coming home soon. Although he was really glad to hear from her, it would also mean that she needed a place to stay and his apartment was too small. Trent had been working his ass off to earn himself a decent living and he couldn't miss another dime, so renting a bigger apartment was out of the question.

Trent walked through the store when he heard a sound, when looking around he saw where it came from. 

"Hi Trent." Paul's daughter Lauren smiled while flipping through a very big book.

"Hey Lauren, what are you doing here?" Trent asked while smiling back at her. "Don't you have school today?"

"It's a holiday this week so I'm having the days off. I came by and saw you looking worried So, I decided to drop in. It took you almost an hour to notice me so you were very deep in thought." Lauren chuckled. "What's on your mind?"

"I heard today that my sister Jane shall be coming home soon and I don't know how to receive her. I love her so very much but the fact that I can't let her stay somewhere kills me."

Lauren looked thoughtful, Trent had a point, what could he do? Then her eyes lit up

"Trent, take this." She handed him a guitar "Play, play whatever comes to mind first." Trent took the instrument and looked at the kid. 

"Uh okay." Trent looked awkward and strummed an A chord.

__

"I'm sitting in the railway station, got my ticket for my destination. On a tour of one-night stands, my suitcase and guitar in hand, and every step is neatly planned for a poet and a one man band."

"Homeward bound, I wish I was, homeward bound. Home, where my thought's escaping. Home, where my music's playing. Home, where my love lies waiting, silently for me."

"That's beautiful, by whom is it by?" Lauren asked

"America's best lyrical group ever, Simon and Garfunkel. My mother played those records over and over when I was young." Trent smiled at her, that kid knew what he needed right away.

"Buurrrrrrrrrp!" Kevin Thompson was driving his Jeep through Dega street, letting out a loud belch and scratching his chin. Kevin would kill for a bath and a good clean shave. Damn it all, after graduation he couldn't hold on to any job offered at all. And no team was interested to hire him as their QB. Kevin had strayed non-stop since the day his parents had thrown him out, stealing fuel, eating whatever he could find and sleeping in his car. 

No, Brittany had it better, her parents were rich. So after her graduation she moved to Los Angeles to become a model. Kevin took out a Playboy issue and looked at Brittany baring it all. Kevin took a sip of Jack Daniels, so what if he wasn't 21 yet? It all just left him cold. 

Where were all of the others? Mack had become a gym trainer at the local work out gym. Kevin went by a few months back just to check that out. He'd been surprised to see, of all people, Daria working out in there too.

Yeah Daria, according to Mack-daddy, she and Jodie were at Lincoln University. After all, they both were velcrodictorian, err no…they were phallusetorian, Awh man that wasn't the word either. They were valedictorian. Yes that was the word. Damn it all, it just wasn't fair, she was one of the losers in school, so why did she end up better than he did? Ah there was a bar, maybe he could get a job as a mugger or something. 

Kevin, pulled himself out of his car and cracked his spine, the lack of training began to show off. Kevin tried to walk but tripped and fell face first in the mud. Only to look up when a familiar voice spoke up.

"Well, well, if it isn't our former quarterback, Kevin Thompson." Charles Ruttheimer the third spoke up. He had been partying nonstop after graduation, his father's money providing him with all his greedy heart desired.

Kevin looked up, his view clogged by the alcohol, was it true, was that Brittany standing there?

"Ha, what pleasure to see you in this state Kevin, lying facedown in the mud while I have all the glory, see this diamond ring?" Charles smiled widely. "I now know why they call it a girl's best friend. GRRRRRRRRRR"

Kevin looked at the person speaking to him. How sweet of Brittany to come search for him. Telling him that she had enough of all that glory and wearing diamond rings and saying that he was her best friend.

"Awww babe, that's so nice to hear." Kevin spoke up while grabbing hold onto Upchuck's legs. "I've missed you so much." Upchuck looked in total shock while a crowed slowly gathered and laughed at him.

"Hey Charley, why didn't you tell us about your boyfriend before?" One girl suddenly spoke up.

"WHAT? No way, he's not my boyfriend! He's just drunk!" Upchuck sputtered at the laughing crowd.

"Gosh, you shouldn't be so harsh on him, the two of you make a cute couple." Another girl laughed.

"Hey you drunk, here have sober-up." One boy said while emptying a bucket of cold water over Kevin's head. Kevin sputtered, shook his head and suddenly his vision cleared up.

"Hey, wait a minute, you're not Brittany."

"No I'm certainly not that airheaded bimbo that poses for playboy. I unlike the both of you, have real style." Upchuck sneered "I hope you can pay the dry cleaning of my suit, it will cost you three thousand dollars." Kevin began to look really dark.

"Airheaded bimbo?" He growled while getting onto his feet. He still towered two heads over Upchuck. "Three thousand bucks, why pay so much if you can go to the Laundry hall and have it washed for like five bucks?"

"Because it has to be done with style. It will keep the ladies waiting in line for me, doesn't it ladies?" Upchuck looked around and saw all the girls looking away.

"Ah I get it, you like things done with style don't you. Well beating you up with style will have the ladies waiting in line for me or whatever." All the girls began to cheer. "Like, listen to me Upchuck, after leaving school I've been living like a bum. And I do mean like a real bum like you see on TV shows and stuff like that. All that shit I've been through really has fucked me up."

"I can tell, you have become the worm you always were in school, while I have delved into the true riches of life. Now do you really think your attempts to intimidation impress me, think again."

"Upchuck, there's, like one true lesson I learned out there." Kevin said while clenching his fists. "And that lesson was that a good brawl is the best therapy." Kevin smiled before sucker punching Upchuck square in the face. "You wanted it to be stylish, didn't you? Well here you go, have my stylish boot in your stylish gut!" The crowd started cheering Kevin on. "And don't forget, although I'm no longer in the team I'M STILL THE QB!"

But just outside the crowd was one man taking out a cell phone.

"Hello boss, I think I found the man you were looking for."

Meanwhile in her apartment was Jane at the telephone, an urgent call had come in.

"I understand and will fully cooperate officer." Jane spoke into the receiver of her telephone. "When is it due? Okay I will see that I'll be there." Jane hung up the phone and sighed. "Change of plan Howard, we are leaving tonight."

"Huh, what are you talking about?" Howard asked in total amazement at what he was hearing.

"That was the police calling, they want me in Canada to testify against the boys who assaulted me and killed my travelling partner. Now that they finally have caught the last one, they are putting up a case against all four of them." Jane sighed again "They will arrange an all expensives paid flight to Calgary where the prosecution takes place. They expect us to be there by tomorrow."

"Gee whiz, that means that we have to take last minute packing." Howard smiled grimly. "Well at least we don't have to pay for that part of the trip."

"Yeah, plus I get to see Jack and Mindy again." Jane smiled weakly "But I'll also be facing the guys who assaulted me and once again face the trauma they gave me."

"Don't worry Jane, I'll be there." Howard looked into Jane's eyes. "Now let's get going."

"Right, let's get to Calgary to get those assholes into jail." Jane gritted before speeding off to her room and beginning to stuff her suitcases.

"Okay then, I'll notify your neighbors to watch your apartment while you're gone, I'll then go to my place and get all my supplies and we'll meet here in an hour. Okay?" Howard called out while putting on his coat.

"Okay, see you later." Jane called back from her bedroom. After hearing the door slamming shut, Jane walked back into the living room with two hurriedly filled suitcases. "Well one hour, so lets relax while I still can." Jane sighed while turning on the TV.

"The Antarctic, world of ice and snow, home of the penguin and the theatre of a white supremacist holy matrimony. The ultimate white wedding next on Sick, Sad World."

Meanwhile at Lincoln University was got Daria the news she'd been wanting to get for a long time.

"Jane called?" She spoke up in total surprise at Jodie, who nodded smiling. "What did she say?"

"Not much since the empty battery stopped our conversation almost immediately after she called, but apparently she had called your place first and got the number from Quinn." 

"I bet she was surprised when finding out that Quinn is blind now." Daria snickered. " The fashion princes is no more."

"Apparently Quinn didn't tell her about that, and I didn't get the opportunity to do so, so she hasn't found out about that." Jodie shook her head. "Yeah, it will be another world for her when she comes back."

"Yeah, Jodie Landon the super student and homecoming queen is now Jodie Landon the rebel who doesn't give a fuck anymore about what her parents want her to be." Daria smiled. Jodie smirked in mischief.

"And Daria Morgendorffer, the brainy outcast without friends and an estranged family, is now Daria Morgendorffer the valedictorian and councilor in learning who is always there when people need her." Jodie smiled. "But what did you and Tom find about Ms. Li?"

"More than we initially wanted to find out about her." Daria sighed while laying down the files she and Tom collected. "She has gone through things that you wouldn't want your worst enemy to go through. But it also will be the one thing we can use to get through to her."

"What do you mean?" Jodie asked while picking up one of the old newspapers only to lay it down in shock after reading what it said. "Oh dear lord, buried alive in a bombed building."

"According to our survey, she never had any trauma treatment afterward, she just went on saying that if it had been for better security…" Daria started

"…The bomb would never had entered the building at all." Jodie finished. "That explains her vigorous security measures at school." Jodie continued to flip through the files "H'mm, so she graduated from teacher's training in July 1977 and became Phys Ed teacher for Lawndale in August 1979. What did she do during that time in between those two dates?"

"Tom and I found nothing on that, we suspect that she went to some military school or something like that to study security measures. Although we have no evidence or whatsoever to verify that." Daria sighed. 

"Maybe we don't need it anyway, this is enough stuff to get through to her anyway" Jodie replied with a solemn look on her face.

"I guess your right." Daria sighed while she got out her cellphone and dialed the number she hoped she would never have to dial again.

"Hello Lawndale high school, this is Daria Morgendorffer speaking. I would like to arrange a meeting with principal Li."

Their quest was coming along right on schedule. There would be a lot more to do but for now everything seemed to go exactly according to plan.

Calgary airport Canada, After a long and tiring flight, Jane and Howard made their way to the meeting point. Jack and Mindy would be waiting for them.

"I don't know why but I'm tempted to quote that Sanka guy in 'Cool runnings'. " Howard spoke after they had retrieved Zippo at the animal luggage department of the airport.

"Let me guess, ' I'm feeling really Olympic today.' " Jane laughed. Howard nodded smiling. "Come on clowny, let's meet up with Jack and Mindy."

"JANE, OVERHERE!" a voice shouted, Jane turned around but instead of seeing Jack and Mindy she saw the people she least expected.

"MOM, DAD?" Jane sputtered before running off towards them. "What on earth are you doing here?" Vincent began to look sad.

"Janey, after you left I've decided to do whatever was in my power to redeem myself. So I took your place at the hotel and began working as hard as I could." He began, Amanda looked at her husband and continued.

"Your father earned enough money to buy us a house and he then let me come over after came back from my journey to California." Amanda sighed "You should have seen my reaction when I found out when our old house was confiscated by the IRS and that there already was living a new family in it."

"I'm sure dad already told you my reaction to that." Jane replied coldly but quickly turned around and smiled again. "But enough about that, let me introduce you to my boyfriend. Howard Jones. Howard, these are my Mom and Dad." 

"Pleased to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Lane." Howard spoke while extending his hand.

"Likewise Howard, you seem like a decent man for our Janey." Vincent smiled while shaking Howard's hand. "Come on, let's get the two of you to the hotel, I'm sure Jack and Mindy will be glad to see you."

But while Jane, Howard and Jane's parents made their way to the awaiting taxi, a familar face turned around. Tabitha Johnson was looking out for this day. Ever since Tanguy, Mignot, Moreaux and Laverdure were arrested she had been counting the days to the final trial, knowing that Jane would have to return to testify. And what was even better, she brought the dog with her of with it all started.

Tabitha smiled. It probably was her first smile since leaving the hospital all those months ago. She had little to smile about when her father resigned as the mayor of the town of Alphaville. Losing her status in the process, she ran away from home and went to Calgary to plan her revenge. She quickly was taken in by right wing groups and learned their weapon skills. Preparing for the day that she and Jane would meet again. And that day had come.

"Fine to see you again Yankee bitch." She quietly spoke while eyeing Jane's departure "It's not my friends but you who's going to get her just reserved in the court room. And in your case, I will be the judge, jury and jailer. The verdict is guilty and the punishment will be death penalty."

Meanwhile back in Lawndale was Kevin Thompson wasting time at a bar when suddenly a man appeared.

"Hey there, my boy. I saw you kick the bejesus out of that rich punk the other day." He spoke with a thick southern accent causing Kevin to look up. Kevin eyed the man who was in his forties and looked an awful lot like Boss Hog from the Dukes of Hazard wearing a black cowboy hat and boots.

"And what about that?" Kevin grumbled unenthusiastic. What did that guy want from him anyway?

"First let me introduce myself, I am George L Swartz, stockholder of the local wrestling federation." The man held out his hand, Kevin looked at it and looked away. "Oh… Okay then, I'll tell you the truth. I am constantly looking for new talent and one of my scouts told me about your fighting technique."

"So I kicked that punk's ass, big deal. When I was still in the team I had the skills to beat the best of them." Kevin grumbled, getting bored with that 400 pounds cowboy with his pretty talk. But Swartz had skills of himself too and he brought out the big guns.

"But that's just it. I want you to join my team. I am a big figure in the WWF who do you think discovered Stone cold Steve Austin, The undertaker and Sgt. Slaughter? It was me, I picked them off the street and made them millionaires." He spoke while laying down pictures of the mentioned wrestlers with him hanging out with them, the pictures were clearly fakes but were done in such a way that everybody fell for it. Kevin suddenly looked up.

"Really? Whoa, that's cool." He brought out a little too enthusiastic. Swartz smiled, his arrow had hit the target. All he had to do now was haul in his prey.

"All those guys were once ordinary football players who wanted to get higher than they could get at being just football players. You said that kicking someone's ass is no big deal. But would you still say that if I told you that you could make money by kicking someone's ass?" Swartz spoke while laying down a thousand dollars. "Think about it my boy, you'll be getting this amount of money with every blow you give to your opponent. If you say yes, I will give you this money I just laid down, just to pay you for kicking that rich punk's ass."

Kevin withstood the temptation for only two seconds.

"You have got yourself a deal." He then spoke. "But, like under two conditions." 

"Go ahead." Swartz smiled, the conditions of such a stupid kid as him wouldn't be THAT difficult for him to do. The chances were that he would be asking for the usual, expensive cars, fake ID's, hookers, you name it. Swartz was already accustomed with the dos and don'ts from poor, stupid kids like Kevin.

"First, I would like to have a Quarter back uniform. And, like second could you arrange a room with a bath, I haven't washed myself for, like, forever or something." Kevin spoke, causing Swartz to laugh out loud.

"Ah, that's refreshing, you are both a good fighter and a person who believes in good hygiene." Don't worry, I will take care of it. You'll even gonna wear your uniforms on stage if you want to. The WWF has their usual characters but none of them is a QB." Swartz laughed while shaking Kevin's hand. "Come on my boy, let's go to the grand hotel and have you a proper meal and a long good bath and then we'll set the deal in motion."

"Okay then, let's go." Kevin shouted while standing up. Swartz, rubbed his hands in anticipation, he had caught yet another foolish boy who would make him rich. They would never learn.

It was seven o'clock when Daria woke up. Today would be the day. She hurriedly showered and put on her clothes before making her way to Jodie's part of the dorm.

"Come on sleepy head, we need to do our thing today." She shouted while opening the door only to find Jodie already dressed and ready. 

"Who are you calling a sleepy head, I've been up for several hours." She replied with a smile on her face. "I've done the last preparations for our meeting with Ms. Li."

"By the way Jodie, I heard that you and Mack are planning something big." Daria spoke while the two of them made their way to Daria's car. "Is 'Lawndale's queen of the negros' planning to be in white soon?" 

"Well, apparently Mack is preparing a wedding proposal, but I don't know anything about that yet." Jodie smiled while Daria started the car. "But if he does propose, I will be happy to say 'I do' to him. My father would get a stroke from it no doubt."

"Yet another reason for you to do it." Daria smirked "But first it's back to Lawndale high school for the both of us."

It was nine o'clock at the hotel in the Canadian woods when Jane and Howard got downstairs to have a decent breakfast. Jack had prepared a strong English breakfast consisting of bacon and eggs. And the two young lovers devoured it with great pleasure.

"I'm not sure that I'm ready for all of this, Howard." Jane sighed "Why is my past coming back to haunt me?"

"I don't have the answers Jane and I don't hold the key." Howard replied "But what I do have is support for you so you can face it yet again and move on."

"Thanks for being there for me Howard, I just wish I knew someone who could help me in this trial, someone who knows the jurist system, a lawyer or somebody like that." Jane grumbled. And suddenly it hit her. "HELEN MORGENDORFFER." Jane got out her cell phone and dialed the number.

At her office at Vitale, Davis, Riordan, Schrecter, Schrecter and Schrecter was Helen just busy complaining about almost everything that wasn't going like it was supposed to be going when her secretary noted her about a phone call.

"Helen, a Jane Lane wants to speak to you." Marrianne interrupted Helen's rampaging rant.

"Helen Morgendorffer. …Ah hello Jane, how are you?"

"Hi Mrs. Morgendorffer, I'm fine but I am calling you for jurist advice." Jane began.

"Jurist advice, what's going on?" Helen asked in suspicion. "Did you get in trouble?" 

"Yes and no, let me explain. Two weeks after I left Lawndale I wound up in Canada, where I was nearly raped and killed by four right wing boys. I had a travelling partner who was killed by them. The police eventually caught the boys and since I'm the sole witness of the crime, they asked me to testify against them in today's trial." Jane sighed. "The problem is, how do I present myself in the court room?"

Helen's gears began to roll, for the sake of Jane, who still meant a lot to Daria, she would have to use her skills as a lawyer to maximum strength.

"Jane, where is this going to take place? …Calgary, okay… hang on… Marianne, could you give me the file of the Calgary courtroom please? …Okay Jane, I'm going to see who the judge might be, if we can find out I can give you some good tips to behave in the courtroom."

Half an hour went by, Jane had been taking notes on what Helen had to say. Jane was impressed. Helen had clear knowledge on what to do in court. "Let the lies come forward first and let the truth cut them down." was Helen's motto. Jane smiled as she laid down the horn and rubbed her fingers over her most incriminating piece of evidence. The scar on her right shoulder from where the bullet had struck, that same bullet which ironically would secure a guilty verdict for the ones who shot it at her.

"Come on Howard, let's get dressed properly and face this." Jane said with a newly found confidence in her voice. "They haven't seen the last of me."

Meanwhile back in Lawndale, were Daria and Jodie parking their car at the parking lot of Lawndale high. They both looked out of place with their business suits and sunglasses as they made their way to the teacher's lounge having arranged with the faculty to meet them during lunch break.

"Strange, how familiar and yet how different our former high school appears when you haven't been there for over a year." Jodie spoke eyeing the students.

"Yeah, no more blatant talk of Kevin who is shouting through the whole school that he's the QB." Daria smirked "I guess they now have another airheaded boy to take his place at doing that."

"Speaking of Kevin, Daria do you have any idea what became of him?" Jodie asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"The last time I remember seeing him was at the gym where Mack works, thank you for forcing me to take those workouts by the way, and he didn't look that well. He gained a sizable gut, had thick lobes under his eyes and smelled really bad."

"I guess he went off the deep end after graduation." Jodie sighed "And as for Brittany, she went off the deep end too." 

"Posing for playboy you mean? I guess that she made Upchuck's dream come true after all." Daria smirked. "I wouldn't be surprised if he bought the entire stash of that issue."

"Boy am I glad that we didn't run into him." Jodie laughed.

"Likewise." Daria smiled while opening the door of the lounge.

"Ah, Ms. Morgendorffer, Ms. Landon please come in." Mr. DeMartino spoke up when they entered. The entire Lawndale faculty had gathered.

"I understand you wanted to talk to me" Ms. Li spoke up "Go ahead, I'm very busy."

"Ms. Li, contrary to what you might think what we are here for we are not attempting to stop you from having Jane arrested when she returns to Lawndale." Daria started. "Instead we wanted to offer you a deal. We are willing to pay the ransom which would buy off Jane's arrest if you will take up treatment."

"I beg your pardon, where do you think I need treatment for?" Ms. Li spoke up viciously, she didn't like the way the conversation was heading at all. Jodie looked at Daria and nodded.

"Ms. Li be honest, why are going to such extreme security measurements in your school, is it for the sake of the students, who are working with outdated books and are sitting on crummy chairs because they are never replaced. Or is it due to a trauma you suffered in Saigon in 1969?" Jodie spoke soft and caring. But Ms. Li remained cold hearted.

"That's none of your business, I am the principal in school and that unfortunate accident in the performance house is long since forgotten." She stated firmly. But before she could continue Mr. DeMartino spoke up.

"Did you say SAIGON in1969? I REMEMBER hearing about the PERFORMANCE house being blown up by the NVA. They SAID that only TWO of the sixty PEOPLE who were in THERE had survived it." Mr. O'Neill chimed in.

"Oh no, Ms. Li, were you one of the survivors? I'm so sorry, that experience had to be damaging."

"It was nothing serious, they had an excellent hospital where I could recover." Ms. Li stated firmly.

"They did? Then tell us what happened two days after your 'accident' at the performance house." Daria said, eyeing a tiny crack that had revealed itself in Ms. Li's armor. 

"Three drunk soldiers came in and…" Ms. Li gulped and altered course. "Enough of this, this is all private business, I haven't got the slightest idea how you found out about this but you will never break me." She shouted.

"It seems to me that they already broke you." Mrs. Manson stated with a cool voice. "We as your faculty always had our suspicions that you had suffered a trauma, and as a psychologist I was able to recognize the symptoms of a deeply rooted trauma. This reaction you just displayed is typical of people who never got over whatever they have been through."

"NONSENSE, I got over that a long time ago. But if it only had been for better security…" Ms. Li growled, her eyes getting wet.

"If only it had been better security, the bomb would have never entered the building and you didn't have to be buried alive for 24 hours before they finally found you." Daria said while the entire faculty gasped in shock.

"If only it had been for better security, those drunk soldiers would have never entered the hospital and rape you. If only it had been for better security, you didn't need extra surgery thanks to that rape, since those soldiers beat you up worse than you already were from the bombing." Jodie added. Bringing out additional gasps.

"If only it had been for better security, Akina Lishahiro would have been a very different person than the coldhearted principal who uses her students as scapegoats for what she has been through." Daria added, smashing through the last barrier that Ms. Li had put up.

"No… I don't want to… never again… I… I… AAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!" Ms Li screamed before fainting. Ms Morris stood up and grabbed her wrist feeling for a pulse.

"Don't you stand there. Call a frigging ambulance!" She shouted before opening a window to give Ms. Li Fresh air. "And as for the two of you, don't think you are going to get away with this!" She grumbled at Daria and Jodie.

"Why would we, we didn't do anything, what happened to her is due to her own doing." Daria said while walking out. Jodie and Daria smiled at each other. Mission accomplished. 

Meanwhile at the Calgary courthouse was Jane preparing herself for the inevitable confrontation. All the advice she got from Helen wasn't enough when she walked into the courtroom and took her place, when looking around she saw several familiar faces, the store woman from the town where she and Sparky had done their stashing and Mayor Johnson who nodded friendly at her. Jane couldn't understand that such spoiled and hateful brat like Tabitha was the product of such a kind man. Little did she know that she was going to find out very soon why Tabitha was so resentful, as Tabitha herself walked in too.

There, the final hour had finally come, Tabitha was almost glowing in anticipation. Jane Lane, waiting like a baby calf that was ready to be slaughtered, having no idea whatsoever of what was about to happen. Tabitha looked inside her jack and her 44 magnum she held hidden in there. Her baptism of fire was only moments away, what a joyous moment it would be.

"Presenting Judge Parsons." 

The whole courtroom rose as the Judge made her way in. Jane sighed in relieve, Helen was right, there were two possible judges for this trial. Graham Oldfield or Jennifer Parsons, Helen knew Parsons from college. And Jane now knew that by involving Helen, she had a powerful trump to use.

"Order in the court. We call in the case of the city of Calgary versus André Tanguy, Adam Moreaux, Ernest Mignot and Bernard Laverdure who are charged of first degree murder and attempt to murder in the village of Alphaville." Judge Parsons began "How do the defendants plead?" 

"Not guilty, your honor." Adam Moreaux spoke up, nodding at Tabitha.

"Not guilty, your honor." Ernest Mignot replied.

"Not guilty, your honor" Bernard Laverdure chimed in. Jane rolled her eyes, the boys obviously had rehearsed it while they were in jail.

"Your honor, I plead guilty of the crimes I'm accused of." André Tanguy spoke soberly, ignoring the hostile looks of his former alleys. 

"Mr. Tanguy, please come forward." The judge summoned and Tanguy took place in the testify chair. "Mr. Tanguy, you are pleading guilty, to what are you pleading guilty?"

"I plead guilty at assisting at the attempted murder of Jane Lane and the murder of John Sparks, both of them were shot by both Moreaux and Mignot." Tanguy soberly declared while Moreaux, Mignot and Laverdure were turning maroon with Rage.

"TANGUY, YOU COWARD!" Mignot shouted but was quickly silenced by the guards who put him back in his chair. "Just wait until I get my hands on you!" he growled.

"Order in the court!" Judge Parsons called while slamming the gaffer. "Will the defense come forward please?" A man with a big toothpaste commercial smile on his face stood up. Jane and Howard eyed him in distrust.

"H'mm, after this court is done I'll tell the judge to call in the exterminators, the rats in this building are growing bigger than I ever saw them before." Howard whispered to Jane.

"Every rat, no matter how big it is, will eventually meet his match. He might be the rat, but I'm the cougar who will catch and devour it." Jane replied with a sly smile. "Upchuck was an even bigger rat and I always stood up against him."

"Attourney Jason Brecker, state your terms." The Judge summoned the defense lawyer to start.

"Your honor, I would like for defendant Adam Moreaux to come forward. And tell you all what really happened." Brecker began, swirling around like a talk show host and smiling all the way.

"Well what do you know, it's that asshole who broke into your apartment." Howard whispered to Jane.

"I wonder what kind of miserable lie he has come up with." Jane replied eyeing Adam darkly.

"Your honor, I do admit to having killed Sparks but it was in self defense. We were out hunting on that afternoon when we suddenly were under assault by Lane and Sparks. Sparks and Lane belong to an extremist wildlife preservation group and Sparks attacked me with a guitar before drawing a gun, so we fired back." Adam lied without blinking or blushing.

Jane closed her eyes and clasped her hand over her mouth, stiffening a laugh.

"I don't believe this." Jane whispered to Howard "Me and Sparky extremists."

"Presenting to the jury the first piece of evidence." Brecker called out and two guards brought in the remains of Sparky's guitar. "Adam do you recognize this object?"

"Yes, this is the guitar that Sparks smashed on my head during the assault."

"Presenting the second piece of evidence." Brecker called out while a guard handed him a close up of two distinctive scars on Adam's forehead. "These scars were the result of the guitar being smashed at my defendant's forehead. Proving for a fact that the assault took place."

"Thank you, Mr. Brecker. Will the prosecution please come forward?" Judge Parsons nodded toward a man sitting next to Jane. "Attorney Andrews state your terms."

"I would like for the witness, Ms. Lane to come forward." Andrews started summoning Jane to come forward. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury. Ms. Lane's testimony, and the testimony of defendant Tanguy. Tell a different story than the defense is stating at what really happened. Ms. Lane?" Jane nodded at the prosecutor, apparently he was a person who you could trust. "Ms. Lane, given the evidence presented in defense. What is your side of the story?"

"This guitar indeed belonged to Sparks, and although it was smashed at Moreaux's head, the attack didn't take place in the forest." Jane replied sober.

"Could you tell us where it did take place and what the cause for the attack was?" Andrews asked while shooting a glare at Brecker.

"Sparks and I were just out of Alphaville where we had done some stocking for our journey to Alaska when we were run over by a car that was driven by the defendants. Sparks took a severe hit."

"Presenting the first piece of evidence." Andrews nodded to the guards who brought in an autopsy photograph of Sparky's legs. "According to the mortician, who did the autopsy on Sparks' body, these bruises could only have been caused by a blow from a cars' front bumper. Ms. Lane, do you remember what car they were driving?"

"Yes, they were driving a green VW Beetle." Jane replied. Damn, this guy was good. He knew more about the crime than Jane herself knew.

"Thank you Ms. Lane, could you tell us what happened next?"

"The boys got out and sexually assaulted me, Sparks came to just in time, he used the guitar to defend me and drive them away. We ran across the road and into the woods trying to lose them." Jane replied, shivering of the memory.

"Thank you Ms. Lane, apparently you staid the night at a small hotel just outside Alphaville and were to leave the next morning. But what happened next?"

"Apparently the boys had followed us and decided to take revenge on us. They shot Sparks and then attempted to sexually assault me again, when I made a run for it, they shot me. And I fell into the river." Jane replied wet eyed.

"Objection, your honor." Brecker shouted.

"Overruled, Ms. Lane continue." Judge Parsons nodded.

"When I came around again I found myself in the hospital where I heard that Sparks had died." Jane sobbed.

"Ms. Lane, the defendants say that they shot you and Sparks when you were running towards them, is that true?" Andrews continued while laying his hand on Jane's shoulder.

"No they shot me when I was running away from them."

"Presenting the second piece of evidence." Andrews was handed the remains of Jane's red jacket, a clearly visible bullet hole was seen on the back of the right shoulder. "Ms. Lane, do you recognize this object?"

"Yes, this is the jacket I wore on that day." Jane replied amazed to see her old jacket again, apparently the investigation was done a lot better than she thought.

"According to the local police, the papers found in this jacket confirmed that this is indeed Ms. Lane's jacket. And ballistic tests have shown that a bullet had been shot from close range in the back."

"Objection your honor." Brecker shouted, his smile permanently removed from his face.

"Granted. Mr. Brecker, state your terms." Judge Parsons nodded for him to come forward.

"Isn't it possible that the bullet went through Ms. Lane's shoulder and came out the back?" Brecker waltzed forward. "Take a look at the position of the bullet hole, the shoulder blades couldn't possibly have stopped it."

Andrews looked at Brecker and then nodded at Jane. 

"Presenting the third piece of evidence. Ladies and gentlemen of the Jury, this is an x-ray picture taken of Ms. Lane prior to when the bullet was removed." The lights went out and the picture was shown. The bullet was clearly visible stuck at Jane's right shoulder blade "According to the testimony of Mr. Tanguy it was Mr. Mignot who fired the shot. When the shot was fired, Mignot was standing at the right of Ms. Lane. She turned around one hundred and eighty degrees and was hit in her shoulder. The ballistic evidence proves that the angle of the shot was precisely the angle of how the bullet would have struck a running person."

"Besides, I have the fourth piece of evidence that shows that I was shot from the back." Jane added when Andrews finished. Jane pulled up her shirt and showed the scar on the back of her right shoulder. "Mr. Brecker, do you still question that your clients have shot me when I ran away from them?" Jane asked mockingly while re-positioning her shirt. Judge Parsons smiled at Jane approvingly. But Brecker didn't give up that easily.

"But I'm certain that my clients didn't attack you without a good reason, Action is reaction." Brecked barked.

"Ms. Lane, thank you for your testimony, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, let me bring out my second witness. Mrs. Feldman who runs a drugstore in Alphaville." Andrews nodded at Jane who then took her place.

But at the back row of the courtroom was Tabitha getting nervous, this was going out of hand, with that old bat's testimony, her involvement in this whole case would become apparent, she had to act quick.

Mrs. Feldman stood up and walked towards the testimony chair, Tabitha bolted up ran towards her. Grabbing her in a headlock and pulling her gun.

"ENOUGH!" She shouted. "One move and this old bat dies!"

"Tabitha?" Mayor Johnson said in upper shock at his daughters' antics. The whole courtroom fell quiet at this latest development.

"I want Jane Lane, NOW!" Tabitha shouted. Jane stood up and began to walk towards Tabitha in the slowest pace possible. Jane steamed in anger and finally she spoke.

"Mr. Brecker, you wanted to know the reason why your clients attacked me? Here is the reason. Let me explain, after Sparks and I arrived in Alphaville to build up our stockings at Mrs. Feldman's store, we subsequently met this girl."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Tabitha sneered.

"Apparently, this girl who at the time was the mayor's daughter has some extremist ideas about people from a different country, me being American and Sparks being Australian. She was about to slaughter Sparks' dog." Jane continued calmly.

"IF YOU JUST HAD TAKEN THE WARNING AND LEFT RIGHT AWAY, IT WOULDN'T HAVE TO COME TO THIS!" Tabitha shouted while pulling the trigger.

Jane reached at her forehead the bullet had scraped off. Jane sighed in relieve, it would mean another scar no doubt but she was still alive. Tabitha did another attempt at firing but the gun jammed. Tabitha looked in surprise at her weapon, letting Mrs. Feldman loose who reacted on impulse and knocked Tabitha down. Guards quickly seized her.

"Order in the courtroom." Judge Parsons shouted. "Get medical staff inhere on the double. And take this girl away."

"Wait a minute your honor." Jane called out while dipping her wound with her handkerchief "I want to finish my story."

"Granted." Judge Parsons said. "Go ahead Ms. Lane."

"Mrs. Feldman will testify that I only came in her store to buy tampons, when Tabitha Johnson pushed me away before I could. When Tabitha was about to kill Sparks' dog, I kicked her in the face. Apparently, that was enough for the defendants to come after me and take revenge." Jane said while the blood clouded her vision.

"That's all true." A voice spoke up. Everyone looked around, to see it was Tanguy. "In our village Tabitha was one of the most popular girls, we would do anything to be in her favor. Although we don't know where her resentment of foreigners comes from."

"Yes, I would like to know that too." Mayor Johnson spoke up.

"Fine, you want to know why I hate, I will tell you." Tabitha sneered. "When I was a kid I never got big presents at Christmas and at my birthdays, you always told me that I should be happy with what I had. But I wasn't happy with what I had, and when we went to New York on a summer holiday and I saw the big fancy toys that the Americans bought for their children I understood why I never got them, because those damn yanks had them all. This revelation came to me as a blessing. I finally had something to blame all my misfortune on and became proud to be Canadian. Whenever Yankees came to our town, they came in big fancy cars while you never bothered to buy one like that for yourself, so I decided to begin chasing them away because they keep reminding me of what you never allowed me to have Dad. That's why I hate, because hate is the only true friend I have." Tabitha shouted before the guards took her away.

"Well, I guess that explains everything, I rest my case." Jane said while sitting down "By the way, could the medical help get here quick, I feel like losing it right now."

"Very well, I will hand it to the jury to reach a verdict." The Judge stated slamming her gaffer. "Bravo Ms. Lane, you truly showed a lot of courage."

"Helen Morgendorffer sends you her regards." Jane replied while the medics took a look at Jane's wound. "I turned to her for advice on how to behave in this court."

"Ah yes, good old Helen. 'Let the lies come forward first and let the truth cut them down.' " Judge Parsons smiled "When you see her again, give her my regards back. Maybe you should consider a career as a lawyer, you have the talents for it."

"Well, now that you mention it… nah, it's too violent for me. " Jane laughed "But I must thank the forensic detectives for their thorough investigation on my case, they knew more about it than I knew."

"Well, the end came a little quickly." Attorney Andrews spoke up. "The police still had the bullets that were retrieved from your body and from Sparks' body, ballistic evidence had linked them to the shotguns from Mignot and Moreaux. The autopsy of Sparks body also showed that he was shot from a long range, so he couldn't have possible have been in an act of assault." 

"That will be used when the trial will continue, although I really doubt it that the jury will take long to reach a guilty verdict." Judge Parsons added.

"Glad to hear that Sparky didn't die in vain." Jane sighed while her head was bandaged "I'm glad that this is finally done for me."

"I take it that you and your boyfriend will return to the USA now?" Parsons asked getting a positive nod from Jane. "Here take this folder, it's from an attorney school, give it some thought, you can be a great Lawyer." She said while handing Jane a flyer.

Jane looked it, folded it back and placed it in her bag, giving a friendly nod to the judge.

A few days went by, Jane and Howard were center of attention for the newspapers and TV stations due to the shooting in the courtroom. After the dust had settled, they stayed at the new Lane Residence for another two weeks, while attending the trial as it progressed. Mignot and Moreaux, each were found guilty of murder and attempted murder. They each received life sentences with no chance of parole. Laverdure was found guilty of attempted manslaughter and received five years in prison. Tanguy was found guilty of illegal arms possession but was given a reduced punishment because of his cooperation with the police in solving this case. He received two years in prison. Tabitha Johnson was arrested for attempted homicide and is awaiting her trial.

But after two weeks in Calgary Jane and Howard decided that the time was right to move on. Vincent and Amanda promised to take care of Zippo and said goodbye to their daughter as she and Howard booked their flight to their final destination, Lawndale.

Meanwhile at the Zone in Lawndale, were Jodie, Daria and Tom enjoying their time together.

"Boy, I have the idea that tonight just might be the night." Daria said to Jodie while they were watching Mystik Spiral do their final preparations for tonight's gig.

"What do you mean Daria?" Jodie asked suspiciously, it was clear that Daria knew something she didn't know.

"Just wait and observe young lady." Daria smiled at Tom who winked back at her. On stage Trent took the mike.

"Hi, we are Msytik Spiral and we are proud to announce tonight's guest. Take it away guys." Trent called out while the band started The Beatles' "the ballad of John and Yoko" the guest made his way on stage and Jodie's eyes went wide as she recognized him as Mack.

"Thank you Trent." Mack spoke while taking over the mike from him. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to dedicate this to the woman who has stolen my heart. Here's 'the ballad of Mack and Jodie.' "

__

"The very first time that I met ye', you didn't have time for a chat. Because your father said don't let boys into your head, your schedule was more important than that.

Christ, you know it wasn't easy, you know how hard it could be. The way things were going, the pressure was bound to crush me.

From French club going to student council, you worked your hands to the bone. Because your father said there's nothing more important than that and you should leave that boy alone.

Christ, you know it wasn't easy, you know how hard it could be. The way things were going you were bound to lose me."

"Let's have the lady on stage." Mack summoned Jodie to come forward while Trent started the solo. After Jodie made her way on stage, Mack continued the song.

"But then came the day of liberation, you cut of your lines and roamed free. Your father is sad, he's going out of his head, Now that you finally belong to me.

Christ, you know it wasn't easy but we can let the past be. Oh Jodie, I love you, would please marry me? 

Oh Jodie, I love you, would you please marry me?"

Jodie clasped her face, wet eyed from the sincerity of Mack's proposal. She had expected something really good but this was even better than she could have ever expected.

"Jodie, would you marry me?" Mack asked while getting on his knees.

Trent held out a microphone to Jodie, her reply would be heard through the whole club.

"I do Michael." Jodie replied while crying tears of happiness. The crowd began to roar in response as the two of them embraced. 

"This is your captain speaking, we are now approaching Kennedy airport, would you please put out your cigarettes, fasten your seat belts and remain in your seats. We hope you had a pleasant flight and wish you on behalf of all crew of this Air Canada flight a pleasant stay in New York City."

Jane yawned and stretched while walking with Howard through the airport hall, she had been asleep for the whole flight. Howard was leafing through a booklet about NYC, excited of being in New York.

"Oh man, this is going to be so cool, the CBGB club, the Bronx, Harlem, this is hardcore, this is where it all started." Howard glowed in anticipation. Jane gave him a shove.

"Hold your horses music-boy, we're only gonna stay for two days so make up your mind on where you want to go."

After doing so the two of them made their way to Times Square, their journey through the big apple was on its way.

"Boy, I never could have imagined a city this big." Jane observed while looking in agape at all she saw. "When I was a little girl I never envisioned anything bigger than my own house."

"Well, we've got 48 hours to waste what shall we do?" Howard asked.

"Renting a hotel room is a bad idea, we both slept in the plane so let's lower ourselves and party." Jane smiled.

"Sounds okay to me, and I think I've just seen the right place to go." Howard smiled while pointing at a club. "Want to see great big guys slamming into other great big guys, then 'Wrestle maniacs' is the place to go. Our bass player had told me about that place, you pay ten bucks entrance money and you can eat all you want without paying extra watching some dork kicking another dork."

"H'mm, that doesn't sound badly, I might get some inspiration for paintings from that." but then something caught Jane's eye. "Wait a minute… Damned if it isn't him!"

"Huh, what are you talking about?" Howard asked Jane in surprise. As Jane dug out a photo from her backpack and began to laugh out loud.

"That guy on the poster, the one with the football jersey, he used to be the star quarterback of my high school varsity team." Jane laughed, while pointing at a poster which showcased the wrestlers including Kevin. "I was wondering what became of him."  


"Well, you did tell me that he hoped to go pro. It seems that he got his wish." Howard smiled while taking the picture of Kevin and comparing it to the poster. 

"I had my doubts about going in to this place but now I'm dying to see this." Jane rubbed her hands in anticipation.  


"Well then let's do this." Howard smiled before hooking his arm in hers and making their way in.

At his mansion in Lawndale was Andrew Landon in a rage. His daughter, his next of kin would be getting married. It was unacceptable. Michelle and Rachel looked in fear as he rampaged around trying to convince himself he could stop it all when he knew that he couldn't. 

"Dad." Rachel spoke up. "Why are you behaving this way?" Andrew looked at his youngest daughter harshly.

"Hhrrrrrrrrghhhhhh." Andrew snorted, being too angry to speak normally. "Jodie, over my dead body…"

"But what did Jodie do to make you behave like this?" Rachel spoke firmly "You should be thankful for what she had done for you." Andrew looked up at hearing that.

"Oh?" He growled "Then tell me what did she do that would make me thankful?"

"Sacrificing her youth comes to mind." Rachel began.

"AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT SHE IS PLANNING TO DO AND YOU SAY THAT I SHOULD BE THANKFULL FOR THAT?" Andrew roared.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND IT, DO YOU?" Rachel shouted back "She sacrificed her youth by doing all those extra curricular activities you and mom forced her to do. It's a miracle she had the time to get steady with her boyfriend at all."

"This has nothing to do with that! Those chores were so she could get into a good college and…" Andrew began but was cut off by Rachel.

"AND, she did wind up in a good college! What else do you expect from her?" Rachel sneered "Accept it dad, Jodie has earned her freedom. I know that I'll be the next in line to receive workloads that'll look good on my college application but keep in mind that I won't be so easy on them as Jodie was."

"Says the girl who despised her older sister." Andrew snorted.

"I despised Jodie because she never rebelled, never did she back down, she was always there to serve you and this is how you thank her?" Rachel cried "I sometimes wish you had never invented that folding coffeecup, at least then me, Jodie and Evan would have lead normal lives. But if you want to control her once again, go ahead but at least know what you threatening to loose when you do."

Andrew stopped cold. Rachel had a point. Jodie would never smile again or look in his eyes, furthermore if she and Mack would have children, he probably wouldn't be allowed to see them. Rachel noticed the change in her father's composure.

"The truth hurts doesn't it?" Rachel sneered "Accept the truth and accept the fact that you are nothing but a corporate asshole!" Rachel huffed while walking out.

"RACHEL!" Michelle shouted "HOW DARE YOU?"

"No Michelle, leave her." Andrew sobbed. "It's alright, I deserved it."

"Are you sure about this?" Andrew nodded, Michelle looked in his wet eyes and then she saw it. Andrew's adorable stare was back, the domestic dog-like look in his eyes which stole her heart back then was back.

"Michelle, I love you. Although I haven't expressed it in the last couple of years, you are still such a beautiful woman." Andrew sobbed. Michelle's stone mask began to fade as a warm smile came into its place. "Who am I to keep my children from having the same kind of bliss as the one which sprouted them in the first place?" 

"Let's make it an early night, the worries of Jodie's wedding can rest for another day." Michelle smiled while taking Andrew's hand. Behind the door was Rachel standing with a triumphant smile, becoming aware of her gift to make people reason by just getting angry to them. The seed had been planted in her it was now only a matter of time until she would find out what it would sprout.

"Wakey, wakey big boy." Jane smiled while shaking Howard awake. "Time to leave off to Lawndale today."

Howard yawned and looked around, the YMCA where they had stayed wasn't the most luxurious but it was at least decent place to spend the night.

"Boy, that was quite a fight that that former quarterback put up yesterday." Howard groaned while scratching his neck. "He was formidable, if not a tad stupid."

"You have no idea." Jane laughed "He thinks that the Spanish inquisition would torture people by having them to listen to Julio Eglesias records non-stop."

"Well, that is torture alright. But as cruel as they were, they wouldn't be THAT cruel." Howard laughed while putting on his shirt 

"We'll take the greyhound, it leaves from central station in about an hour." Jane said while packing her stuff.

"How long will the travel take?" Howard asked while putting his shirt on.

"According to the booklet, it would take us an hour and a half to get there." Jane replied.

Back in Lawndale was Trent busy making enough room in his apartment for Janey's stay. Although nobody told him when she would come, he wanted to have everything ready. After all, she could be here any minute. Trent mentally thanked Daria, Tom and Jodie who kept him up-to-date on Jane. Trent had a lot of worries over Jane and was happy to know that she was doing alright. 

DING-DONG

Trent looked up, who could that be? 

"Hello Trent, are you home?" A friendly voice asked. Trent sighed, it was Monique. Oh well he just might get it over with anyway.

"Wait up, I'll be right here." Trent replied while putting the last box down. When Trent opened the door he was surprised to find two girls at his doorstep. Monique was an open bisexual, Trent was well aware of that so it wouldn't be too surprising if that blackhead was one of her new girlfriends.

"Well, what did I tell you?" Monique giggled as she pointed at Trent. Trent winced at the alcohol smell coming from her mouth.

"You really didn't lie, tall, slender and handsome." The other girl giggled. Trent squinted, he didn't like the way this was heading at all.

"Monique, I'm sorry but I don't have the time right now." Trent began but was cut off by Monique who playfully shoved him aside.

"Well then, make the time, come on Ally, let me show you around." Monique giggled while she and the other girl made their way in.

"Hey wait a minute, you can't just walk in and…" Trent began but again was cut off, this time by the other girl who picked up a picture of Jane.

"Hey hello, check it out, who is this hot mamma?" She giggled while stroking her finger over Jane's portrait. "I like that coupe of hers, it makes me wonder if she's one of us too."

"Let me see." Monique took the photo "That's Jane, Trent's baby sister. She should be still a virgin. Why do you ask, feeling hot for her?" Trent began to look really dark.

"I'm sorry you two but I am busy and have no time for this, furthermore, I know from fact that Jane is not bisexual." Trent lay his hands on both girls' shoulders and began to direct them towards the door.

"Hey Ally, why do you think Trent would know anything about his cute little sister's sexual interests?" Monique giggled. 

"Ooh, brotherly love, this guy is even kinkier than I thought." The other girl replied while bringing her hand to Trent's crotch and squeezing it. Trent lost his nerve, how dare they?

"GET OUT, BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE!" He thundered while shoving both girls out.

"This went not as we planned it would." The other girl grumbled "I was kinda hoping on a hot aftermath of the party."

"Hey don't worry Allison baby, Jesse Moreno is next on the list." Monique giggled while helping Allison back on her feet again. "Rest assured, he won't throw us out."

"Well at least HE will have a threesome." Trent thought to himself when he watched the girls walk away. Trent smiled, Janey was worth much more to him than a hot hour with two alley cats like them.

"A strawberry?" Howard asked in total surprise while looking at the Lawndale welcome sign. Jane smiled as she and Howard walked away from the bus stop.

"Lawndale is the cheesiest place on earth, so they placed a Strawberry to say that they are not cheesy at all when in fact it just reinforces the cheesy image." Jane explained while she and Howard walked towards the mall.

"I'll say."

"First things first Howard, I promised Sparky I would deliver something to an old friend of him. He lives not far from here." Jane sighed.

"Okay then let's go there." Howard smiled while hooking his arm in hers. "Might I suggest that we go eating somewhere after we do so?"

"No objection." Jane smiled.

At his house was Mr. DeMartino reading his news paper, thank god for weekends at least they provided a shelter from the assaults he suffered in his class. Kevin and Brittany were gone, gone forever, how blissful. The last time he saw Kevin was at a local bar, he grinned at the memory, there was Kevin Thompson former quarterback living on the streets being kicked out of his home. It was well worth all the years of torture he endured trying to teach him. 

****

Ding-Dong

Huh, who could that be? He didn't expect anybody to come by. When opening the door he saw two people standing there, a boy and a girl. The girl's face was rough, the face of somebody who had been through hard times, he knew the kind of look she wore since he wore it himself. And although she did ring a bell in his mind, he couldn't put his finger on what.

"Hi Mr. DeMartino, long time no see." The girl spoke up. Suddenly Demartino recognized her.

"Ms. Lane?"

"Please no formalities, I'm no longer one of your students, please call me Jane." Jane smiled. "I have come here to deliver something from a friend I met during my time away."

"Well then come on **in**." DeMartino smiled awkwardly, what in the world could that be?

"Thank you Anthony, meet my boyfriend Howard Jones, we have just returned from New York." Jane replied while walking in.

"Well I **guess** that the both of you must be **starving**, let me fix you **something** right up." DeMartino laughed.

"We don't want to be of any problem for you sir..." Howard began but Jane gave him a quick shove. "But if you insist on doing so, we won't object."

"But before you do first take this, Sparky would have been insulted if I didn't give it to you." Jane spoke soberly while retrieving the envelope from her backpack.

"Sparky, as in **Jonathan** **Sparks**?" DeMartino asked while his eyes went wide. "Have you met him, **how** is he **doing**?"

"I think you should better sit down for what I have to say." Jane spoke while a tear made its way down her cheek.

The next hour turned the DeMartino household upside down. DeMartino was glad to hear from his old friend and was sad to learn about his demise. When opening up the envelope he found Sparky's military I.D. plate, several old photos taken during their tour of duty in Vietnam and Sparky's memoires. DeMartino then made a big breakfast for his two guests, bacon and eggs, mushroom stew, toast and freshly made orange juice made their way onto the dining table. Jane and Howard were happy to take it all, Demartino proved himself to be an outstanding cook.

After saying their goodbye to DeMartino, Jane and Howard then set off to their next destination, the Morgendorffer household.

"Boy, that history teacher sure was weird." Howard laughed. "I thought he was going to slaughter us but I guess he's okay after all."

"He's a psycho but anyone who can cook as good as he can is okay in my book." Jane smiled.

"Maybe we should have suggested to him to give up his job as a teacher and to go on television to present his own cook show." Howard smiled "I can see it right now, Anthony DeMartino presents: **'Cooking for psychos'**."

"Come on, get real Howard, who would scare the students of Lawndale High if he really would have done that." Jane smiled while shoving Howard.

"Oh, yes I guess you've got a point there." Howard smiled back.

"From this point, it will be a ten minute walk to Glenn Oaks lane, Let's go and see if the Morgendorffers are home." Jane suggested.

"Fine with me."

Ten minutes later. At the Morgendorffer home was Quinn doing homework when the doorbell rang, Quinn got up, grabbed her guidance stick and made her way downstairs.

Jane and Howard smiled friendly when Quinn opened the door, suspecting that Quinn would welcome them as soon as she saw them. But when Quinn opened the door she remained silent.

"Hello, who's there?" Quinn asked, she could hear the breathing and she smelled the odors of deodorant and after-shave indicating that two people were standing at the door. 

"Hi Quinn, long time no see." Jane spoke up sounding not just a little surprised, what was going on here?

"Jane, is that you?" Quinn asked when she recognized the voice. "Welcome back, come on in."

"Thanks, let me introduce you to my boyfriend, Howard Jones, Howard this is Quinn Morgendorffer." Jane spoke while she and Howard walked in 

"Pleased to meet you." Howard shook Quinn's hand before waving it in front of Quinn's eyes, Quinn didn't respond to it. "Are you blind?"

"Yes, I was engaged in a horrible accident and lost my eyesight because of that." Quinn spoke soberly. Jane gasped in shock at hearing that. "You mean to tell me that you didn't know?" 

"Nobody told me." Jane replied "Jodie mentioned an accident but she didn't have the chance to tell me what really did happen. I'm so sorry for you."

"Don't worry, it takes more than that to cut me down." Quinn smiled "So how has your journey been?"

Jane looked in amazement at Quinn, she never could have imagined her being so strong. "You never know who we encountered in New York." She finally spoke.

Lincoln University. 

"I can't believe that it's finally come to this." Jodie gleamed while getting up. "In a short while I'll be Mrs. Mackenzie."

"I'm sure that being a housewife will be an extra curricular activity that your parents didn't think off." A voice next to her answered, Jodie turned over and smirked. Her Husband-to-be smiled back at her. "I'm really glad that we took this decision, things will go their own way from here on."

"So you'd better hold on tight dear fiancée of mine because the roller coaster ride is about to start." Jodie smiled while slipping into her robe and walking out.

"Good afternoon late bird." Daria greeted her as Jodie walked into the kitchen to make some coffee. "I guess you and your fiancée practiced for your honeymoon."

"Hey at least _we_ kept the bed in one piece." Jodie laughed while throwing a newspaper at Daria who laughingly kicked it away from her. It was at that time that the phone rang. Jodie stuck out her tongue to Daria before answering it. "Hello Jodie Mackenzie speaking. …Yes Quinn, he proposed to me, this is practice." Jodie giggled "I'll tell you all about it. …Oh, yes she's here, in fact she's standing next to me at the moment. …What? …Sure I will give you her right away."

Daria took over the phone.

"Yes?"

"Heya, partner in crime." A voice Daria hadn't heard over a year answered, Daria went completely silent, could it really be… Jane?

"Jane, is that really you?" She blubbered, not being sure how to feel.

"In the flesh and blood Daria." Jane replied with laughter "Tell me, did you took good care of Trent and Tom while I was gone?" Daria smiled at hearing the old cynical remarks from her best friend.

"Well Trent, had found himself a job and is doing fine and Tom and I are still going steady. So I'm sorry but I fucked up." Daria replied.

"Damn it Daria, I should have known that I couldn't leave you alone without you messing everything up!" Jane replied laughing. Jodie shook her head while walking out, some things would never change.

After arranging with Daria to meet up at the Morgendorffer household Jane hung up, tears of joy in her eyes. Howard and Quinn looked content, all was falling into place like they hoped.

"That was such a relieve, I don't understand why I didn't do this sooner." Jane smiled.

"I guess, you were afraid of being rejected." Quinn replied soberly "I know from fact that Daria took your departure really hard but she never showed any grudge towards you because of that."

"What did she do?" Jane asked, knowing Daria it probably would have been something really out of character for her.

Quinn smiled, got up and nodded to Jane and Howard to follow her upstairs. Jane recognized the door to Daria's room but when Quinn opened it Jane was dumbfounded at what it revealed. Daria's old room was transformed into a shrine dedicated to her. There were framed pictures on the wall from Daria's graduation, several diplomas, the contract whcih she and Jodie signed to start up a company for minority start ups and a mannequin wearing Daria's old outfit.

"Mom has been collecting all of what happened to Daria while you were gone." Quinn explained "She knew that you would return eventually and wanted you to see this. Daria has changed a lot Jane, I guess that being confronted with all of this proofs my point."

"Wow, talk about an act of motherly love." Howard whispered in awe.

"Actually, I contributed in this too, I donated my mannequin since I don't need it anymore anyway." Quinn giggled.

"Hey what's this?" Jane asked while picking up the files that Tom and Daria had collected about Ms. Li. "Whoa. …Whoa. …Oh god…" Jane said while leafing through it. "Quinn, is Ms. Li still principal of LHS?"

"From what I heard from Sandi, she has resigned and is visiting a councilor." Quinn responded, but then something told her that not all was well. "Jane, what's wrong?"

Howard looked at Quinn in surprise, how on earth could she have known that Jane was paling at what she read about Ms. Li?

Jane stiffened as she fought back the tears, she never could have imagined that she would have had so much in common with her former principal. Quinn walked over to Jane and brought her fingers to Jane's face. Jane jolted backwards.

"Don't be afraid." Quinn said while laying her fingers on Jane's face and carefully beginning to explore it. Quinn's sensitive fingers felt what Jane's face revealed. "Oh god, you have been through similar things didn't you?" Quinn gasped. Jane nodded sadly. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Jane replied while swallowing away her tears. "Thank you for your kindness."

Quinn then decided to go off into another direction.

"By the way, did you grow your hair?" Jane smiled again at hearing that and retorted.

"Yeah I figured that my old coupe was a real fashion don't so I decided to grow it out."

Howard smiled as he watched the two girls talking about the fashion club and making fun of the old ethics that Jane so despised. This was Jane's former life and he had to admit to himself that he liked her better the way she was now.

Trent was overjoyed, Jane was back, as soon as he had the phone call from Daria, he had called off from work and raced towards the Morgendorffer household. While underway he came across Tom's car with Tom, Daria, Jodie and Mack on board. They waved at him, it was obviously where they were heading.

"Hey Trent." Tom shouted while opening his car window "Are you heading our way?"

"Sure man." Trent shouted back "I can't wait to see Janey again."

"Cuddly toys or deadly assassins? Terminator Teddies next on Sick, sad, world." 

Jane almost died in anticipation, the reunion with her best friend was nearing its final stage. To keep her nerve she had put on the TV. Suddenly Quinn turned towards the door when she heard a car stop.

Daria hesitatingly brought her key to the door. She was about to be reunited with her long lost best friend but was she really ready for it? Tom, Jodie, Mack and Trent stood behind her urging her to open the door. Daria brought up a warm smile, she owed them a lot for being there when she needed them. With a turn of her wrist, she unlocked the door.

Jane saw the door opening and a strange, yet familiar looking girl stepped in. It was Daria but she had changed, gone was her unappealing outfit and big horn rimmed glasses, they were replaced by a business suit that would've made you think that Daria had decided to follow in Helen's footsteps. All in all Daria looked more serious than Jane could ever remember her to be. Jane looked at Daria's eyes which were no longer hidden behind the round mask she used to wear, instead they were looking back at her through small oval frames.

As Daria opened the door, her eyes instantly fell on the young woman standing next to Quinn. There was Jane but not the Jane that Daria remembered. Jane's face showed the results of the adventures she had been through. Jane's rough black hair was tied up in a ponytail, which reached well over her shoulder blades. As Daria eyed Jane she couldn't help but to see that Jane's pale blue eyes looked differently, Jane had the stare of somebody who was wise beyond her years. It all made perfect sense if you thought about it, Jane had experienced more in one year than most people do in their whole lives. 

"Jane?"

"Daria?"

After hearing each other's voices, the two ran up to each other and just hugged and held each other with the urge to never let go.

Jane, sighed as she knew she couldn't stay, Lawndale would after this become just another memory. Daria Nodded in understanding as the two of them parted, she knew that Jane had no reason whatsoever to stay.

****

THE END.

Authors' notes.

Whew, I never thought I'd be able to finish it. 

First I would like to thank Glenn Eighler to come up with "Dye, dye my darling" without that ep I would have never come up with this mammoth fic anyway. Also much thanks to my devoted beta-readers Morgan Jenkins (I love you) and Robert Nowall who's comments were very helpful. Also much thanks to Ace Frehley for making such brilliant songs, almost all of the titles come from his songs.

Song credits.

Trouble Walking - Written by Ace Frehley and John Regan. From Frehley's comet 1989 album "Trouble Walking"

Beds are burning - Written and performed by Midnight oil. From their 1992 album "Diesel and dust"

The Boxer - Written by Paul Simon. From the 1968 Simon and Garfunkel album "Bridge over troubled water"

Homeward bound - Written by Paul Simon. From the 1966 Simon and Garfunkel album "The sounds of silence"

The ballad of John and Yoko - Written by John Lennon. From the 1968 Beatles album "Let it be." Alternate lyrics written by Wouter Jaegers. 

Thank you for reading this I take much gratitude in it. 

****

Wouter Jaegers

   [1]: mailto:wo.jaegers@planet.nl



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